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Bill· HRH.R. 824 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2009
Family and Medical Leave Enhancement Act of 2009 - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to cover employees at worksites that employ fewer than 50 employees, but not fewer than 25 employees. Continues to exempt from FMLA coverage employees at worksites that employ fewer than 25 employees (currently 50), if the total number of employees employed by that employer within 75 miles of that worksite is fewer than 25 (currently 50). Allows an employee covered by FMLA to take up to 4 hours during any 30-day period, and up to 24 hours during any 12-month period, of parental involvement leave to participate in or attend activities that are sponsored by a school or community organization; and (2) relate to a program of the school or organization that is attended by the employee's child or grandchild. Permits the use of such parental involvement leave to meet routine family medical care needs, including: (1) such employee's medical and dental appointments, or their spouse, child, or grandchild; and (2) the care needs of their related elderly individuals, including visits to nursing homes and group homes. Allows an employee to elect, or an employer to require, substitution of any of the paid or family leave or paid medical or sick leave of the employee for any leave provided under this Act. Declares that nothing in this Act shall require an employer to provide paid sick leave or paid medical leave in situations where such employer would not normally provide any such paid leave. Imposes on the employee requesting leave certain notification requirements. Allows an employer to require certification supporting such requests. Applies the parental involvement and family wellness leave allowance to federal employees.
Bill· HRH.R. 794 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2009
Prohibits federal funds from being used to: (1) transfer any enemy combatant detained by the United States at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Florence Federal Correctional Complex, Colorado; or (2) construct housing facilities for such individuals at the Florence Complex.
Bill· HRH.R. 787 (111th)open
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2009
Amends the National Housing Act to revise requirements governing the HOPE for Homeowners Program. Repeals the requirement that the current borrower have, or is likely to have, a mortgage debt-to-income ratio greater than 31% (or any higher amount the Federal Home Loan Bank Board determines appropriate). Increases from 90% to 93% of a property's appraised value the cap on the principal obligation amount of a refinanced eligible insured mortgage. Repeals the prohibitions on: (1) second liens; and (2) payment of insurance benefits to a mortgagee in any case in which a mortgagor fails to make the first payment on a refinanced eligible mortgage. Reduces the annual premium for a refinanced eligible insured mortgage, and allows its further reduction or termination during the mortgage term. Repeals the entitlement of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the mortgagor of an eligible insured mortgage, upon any sale or disposition of the subject property, to 50% of any appreciation in the property's appraised value since the date that the mortgage was insured. Authorizes the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to establish a payment to the servicer of the existing senior mortgage for every loan insured under the HOPE for Homeowners Program.
Bill· HRH.R. 788 (111th)open
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2009
Shields a servicer of pooled residential mortgages acting in compliance with certain fiduciary duties under the Truth in Lending Act from liability for entering into a loan modification or workout plan in connection with any such mortgages initiated before January 1, 2012. Requires the property securing such a mortgage to be occupied by its mortgagor.
Bill· HRH.R. 741 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2009
Mobile Home Protection Act - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 (section 8 voucher program) to require a public housing agency (PHA) to contract to make section 8 rental assistance payments directly to a family (rather than to the owner of the real property on which the family's manufactured (mobile) home is located) only in the case of a low-income family that owns a manufactured home, rents the real property on which it is located, and to whom assistance under such Act has been made available. Sets as conditions for such a direct payment contract that: (1) the owner of the real property refuses to enter into a contract to receive assistance payments; (2) the family was residing in the manufactured home on the real property at the time such assistance was initially made available on the family's behalf; (3) the family provides assurances to the agency that amounts from the assistance payments are used for rental of the real property; and (4) such rental otherwise complies with the Act's requirements for assistance.
Bill· HRH.R. 766 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2009
Community Assistance Act for Persons with Mental Illness - Authorizes the use of specified funds, by state and local governments under the community development, mental health services, and substance abuse prevention and treatment block grant programs of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act, to provide housing counseling and financial counseling for individuals before their release from institutions for individuals with mental illness. Amends the Public Health Service Act to include in a state plan for comprehensive community-based mental health systems: (1) housing counseling; (2) financial counseling; and (3) support services for individuals released from inpatient or residential institutions.
Bill· SS. 336 (111th)open
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Department of Commerce; (3) the Department of Justice (DOJ); (4) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); (5) the National Science Foundation; (6) the Department of Defense (DOD); (7) the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers - Civil; (8) the Department of the Interior; and (9) the Department of Energy. Makes additional appropriations for FY2009 to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide a temporary increase in benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Amends the Crop Insurance Act and the Trade Act of 1974 to provide 2008 transition assistance to certain farmers for lost income due to natural disasters and other unforeseen events. Instructs the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish a national broadband service development and expansion program in conjunction with the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. Makes additional borrowing authority available to the Bonneville Power Administration. Amends the Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 to authorize the Western Area Power Administration to borrow funds from the Treasury for: (1) new or upgraded electric power transmission lines and related facilities; and (2) the delivery of power generated by renewable energy resources after enactment of this Act. Makes technical corrections to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Revises requirements with respect to smart grid regional demonstration initiatives. Instructs the Secretary of Energy to establish a smart grid information clearinghouse. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary to make loan guarantees for rapid deployment before FY2012 of renewable energy and electric power transmission projects. Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to increase the income eligibility level for the Weatherization Assistance Program, as well as the maximum amount of financial assistance. Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009: (1) to the Department of the Treasury; (2) for federal payments to the District of Columbia; (3) to the General Services Administration (GSA); (4) to the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board; and (5) to Small Business Administration (SBA). Provides temporary elimination of SBA fees on: (1) small-business loans; (2) state and local development program loans; and (3) lender oversight fees. Provides increased SBA loan leverage and investment limits. Authorizes the SBA to refinance certain loans to state and local development companies. Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); (2) the Department of the Interior; (3) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); (4) the Department of Agriculture; (5) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); (6) the Smithsonian Institution; (7) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities; (8) the National Endowment for the Arts; (9) the Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration; (10) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); (11) the Department of Education; (12) the Corporation for National and Community Service; (13) the National Service Trust; (14) the Social Security Administration (SSA); (15) the Government Accountability Office (GAO); (16) the DOD; (17) the Department of Veterans Affairs; (18) the DOD - Civil; (19) the Department of State; (20) the Department of Transportation; and (21) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Requires the President to establish an arbitration panel under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) public assistance program to expedite the recovery efforts from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike within the Gulf Coast Region. Amends the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 to require GAO (currently, the Secretary of Labor) to report on the impact of past and future minimum wage increases in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands regarding living standards and rates of employment. Establishes the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research. Provides grants for higher education facility modernization, renovation, and repair. Amends the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to revise the exclusion from the meaning of "employee in the recreational marine industry" of any individuals employed to repair a recreational vessel or to dismantle any part of it in connection with its repair. Amends the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 to expand temporarily the homeowners assistance plan to respond to mortgage foreclosures and the credit crisis with respect to: (1) acquisition of property at or near military installations that have been ordered to be closed; (2) homeowner assistance for wounded members of the Armed Forces and DOD and U.S. Coast Guard civilian employees and their spouses; and (3) temporary homeowner assistance for members of the Armed Forces permanently reassigned during a specified period involving a mortgage crisis. Provides for payments to eligible persons who served in the Armed Forces in the Far East during World War II. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to invest in the infrastructure necessary to allow for and promote the electronic exchange and use of health information for each individual in the United States, consistent with the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Establishes a State Stabilization Fund which the Secretary of Education is to use to provide grants to states: (1) to restore state funding for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education; (2) to supplement school improvement funds provided to local educational agencies (LEAs) under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and (3) for public safety and other government services. Reserves a portion of such Fund for: (1) awarding grants to states that make significant progress in addressing inequities in teacher distribution, establishing longitudinal education data systems, and improving educational assessments; and (2) establishing an Innovation Fund to award states, LEAs, and schools that make significant progress in closing student achievement gaps. Establishes the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. Designates each amount in this Act as an emergency requirement, necessary to meet certain emergency needs in accordance with the FY2008-FY2009 congressional budget resolutions. Makes all funds appropriated in this Act available for obligation in such current fiscal year, unless expressly expressly provided otherwise. Prohibits the use of funds for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron and steel used in the project is domestic, except in certain circumstances. Prohibits a state or local agency from receiving infrastructure investment funding from funds made available under this Act unless its chief executive certifies that: (1) such investment funding has been reviewed and vetted; and (2) the investment is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to revise contracting requirements to include individuals with disabilities and businesses owned by such persons.
Bill· HRH.R. 701 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2009
Prohibits federal funds from being used to: (1) transfer any enemy combatant detained by the United States at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to any facility in Oklahoma; or (2) construct housing facilities for such individuals in Oklahoma.
Bill· HRH.R. 703 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2009
Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) to make permanent the increase in the standard maximum deposit insurance amount from $100,000 to $250,000. Extends from five years to eight years after implementation of a Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) restoration plan the deadline by which the DIF reserve ratio must meet or exceed the required minimum of 1.15% of estimated insured deposits. Increases the borrowing authority of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from a maximum $30 billion to $100 billion. Extends to depository institution holding companies liability for special assessments to recover loss to the DIF arising from certain actions taken or assistance provided to avoid serious adverse effects on economic conditions or financial stability. Amends the National Housing Act to revise certain requirements for the HOPE for Homeowners Program. Repeals the requirement that the current borrower have, or is likely to have, a mortgage debt-to-income ratio greater than 31% (or any higher amount the Federal Home Loan Bank Board determines appropriate). Increases from 90% to 93% of a property's appraised value the cap on the principal obligation amount of a refinanced eligible insured mortgage. Repeals the prohibitions on: (1) second liens; and (2) payment of insurance benefits to a mortgagee in any case in which a mortgagor fails to make the first payment on a refinanced eligible mortgage. Reduces the annual premium for a refinanced eligible insured mortgage, and allows its further reduction or termination during the mortgage term. Repeals the entitlement of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the mortgagor of an eligible insured mortgage, upon any sale or disposition of the subject property, to 50% of any appreciation in the property's appraised value since the date that the mortgage was insured. Authorizes the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to establish a payment to the servicer of the existing senior mortgage for every loan insured under the HOPE for Homeowners Program. Prescribes requirements (safe harbor) that will render a mortgage servicer not liable for entering into a loan modification or workout plan with respect to any mortgage on which: (1) default has occurred or is reasonably foreseeable; (2) the property securing it is occupied by the mortgagor; and (3) the servicer reasonably and in good faith believes that the anticipated recovery on the mortgage's principal outstanding obligation under a particular mortgage modification, workout plan, or other loss mitigation action will exceed, on a net present value basis, the anticipated recovery on the principal outstanding obligation to be realized through foreclosure. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to take prompt action to provide EESA Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) assistance to smaller community financial institutions, including privately held institutions.
Bill· HRH.R. 709 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2009
Hawaiian Homeownership Opportunity Act of 2009 - Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to extend through FY2013 the authorization of appropriations for housing assistance for Native Americans and loan guarantees for Native Hawaiian housing. Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 to make the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands of the state of Hawaii eligible for loan guarantees.
Bill· SS. 323 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2009
Rural Revitalization Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow the issuance, through December 31, 2010, of tax-exempt facility bonds to finance qualified electric transmission facilities; and (2) extend issuance authority for qualified zone academy bonds and permit bond proceeds to be used for construction. Amends the Federal Power Act to revise the Secretary of Energy's authority to designate national interest electric transmission corridors. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer funds for: (1) electrification loans and loan guarantees; (2) Indian reservation roads and bridge and highway projects; (3) water projects; (4) utilities programs; (5) community facilities programs; (6) business enterprise grants and microenterprise assistance; (7) telemedicine and distance learning services; (8) public works and economic development; and (9) energy programs. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to direct the Secretary of Energy to make loan guarantees for renewable fuel pipelines. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer funds for the: (1) emergency food assistance program; (2) commodity supplemental food program; (3) emergency food program infrastructure grant program; and (4) supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC). Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to use specified Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds for the Doug Bereuter section 502 single family housing loan guarantee program. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer funds for National Health Service Corps programs. Amends the Social Security Act to extend: (1) increased payments for certain ground ambulance services; and (2) assistance for rural providers providing services in low population density areas. Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, as amended by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, to extend the payment increase for certain rural home health services. Amends the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 and the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, to extend certain hospital reclassification authority.
Bill· SS. 320 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2009
Clean Energy Stimulus and Investment Assurance Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a new tax credit for investment in projects for manufacturing alternative energy equipment; (2) allow accelerated depreciation for smart meters and smart grid systems; (3) expand carrybacks and carryforwards of unused business tax credits; (4) extend the tax credit for producing electricity from renewable resources and expand such credit to include the production of thermal energy and zero carbon emissions resource facilities; (5) increase the national limitation for issuance of new clean renewable energy bonds; (6) allow expensing of manufacturing facilities for producing plug-in electric drive motor vehicles; (7) allow a tax credit for the cost of converting motor vehicles into plug-in electric drive motor vehicles; (8) extend through 2010 the tax credit for biodiesel and renewable diesel; (9) extend through 2014 the tax credit for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property expenditures; (10) increase the tax credit for residential energy efficient property expenditures; (11) allow an energy tax credit through 2016 for qualified energy storage air conditioner property; (12) extend through 2012 the tax credit for new energy efficient homes; (13) increase the tax deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings; (14) increase and extend the tax credit for nonbusiness energy property; (15) allow an energy tax credit for investment in green roofs; and (16) repeal limitations on the energy tax credit for property financed by subsidized energy financing. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) smart grid research and development; (2) the Bonneville Power Administration; (3) the plug-in electric drive motor vehicle program; (4) the energy storage competitiveness program; (5) advanced battery manufacturing; and (6) the energy efficient appliance rebate program and the Energy Star program. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to allow the federal government to enter into 30-year contracts for the purchase of electricity generated by renewable energy.
Bill· HRH.R. 679 (111th)open
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Establishes use-it-or-lose-it requirements for grantees using funds in specified accounts who have not entered into contracts or other binding commitments and used 50% of the funds awarded. Provides for redistribution of such uncommitted funds by the appropriate federal agency. Makes all funds appropriated by this Act available for obligation through FY2010, unless expressly provided otherwise. Makes additional appropriations to specified federal agency and departmental Offices of Inspector General. Appropriates additional amounts to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Prohibits the use of funds for: (1) casino or other gambling establishments, aquariums, zoos, golf courses, or swimming pools; or (2) a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron and steel used in the project is domestic, except in certain circumstances. Designates each amount in this Act as an emergency requirement, necessary to meet certain emergency needs in accordance with the FY2008-FY2009 congressional budget resolutions. Prohibits the use of funds to enter into a contract with an entity that does not participate in the E-verify program of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Requires publication on the website Recovery.gov of: (1) all federal agency plans for using funds made available in this Act, as well as all related grant announcements; and (2) all federal, state, or local agency public notices regarding funds obligated to particular infrastructure investments. Prescribes review and reporting requirements for inspectors general of federal departments or executive agencies, the GAO, and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Establishes the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board, which shall establish the Recovery.gov website. Places limitations on the length of certain noncompetitive contracts. Grants the Comptroller General and the Offices of Inspector General access to certain contractors' or subcontractors' records or employees. Prohibits reprisals against state and local government and contractor whistleblowers. Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Department of Commerce; (3) the Department of Justice (DOJ); (4) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); (5) the National Science Foundation; (6) the Department of Defense (DOD); (7) the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers - Civil; (8) the Department of the Interior; and (9) the Department of Energy. Makes additional appropriations for FY2009 to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide a temporary increase in benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to repeal the limitation of the afterschool feeding program for at-risk children to eight states. Requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop and maintain a map showing where broadband service is deployed and available in each state. Authorizes NTIA to award grants for wireless deployment and broadband deployment. Makes technical corrections to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Revises requirements with respect to smart grid regional demonstration initiatives. Instructs the Secretary of Energy to establish a smart grid information clearinghouse. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary to make loan guarantees for rapid deployment before FY2012 of renewable energy and electric power transmission projects. Amends the Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 to authorize the Western Area Power Administration to borrow funds from the Treasury for: (1) new or upgraded electric power transmission lines and related facilities; and (2) the delivery of power generated by renewable energy resources after enactment of this Act. Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to increase the income eligibility level for the Weatherization Assistance Program, as well as the maximum amount of financial assistance. Makes additional borrowing authority available to the Bonneville Power Administration. Instructs the Secretary to include specified analyses within the 2009 National Electric Transmission Congestion Study. Appropriates funds for: (1) the General Services Administration (GSA) for the Federal Buildings Fund and the acquisition of energy-efficient motor vehicles; and (2) the Small Business Administration (SBA) for small business loan programs. Permits the SBA to guarantee up to 95% of qualifying small business loans made by eligible lenders. Authorizes the SBA to establish: (1) the SBA Secondary Market Lending Authority; and (2) the SBA Secondary Market Guarantee Authority. Authorizes the SBA to refinance: (1) SBA and non-SBA loans made to small businesses; and (2) loans made under the SBA's local development business loan program. Provides increased SBA loan leverage and investment limits. Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); (2) the Department of the Interior; (3) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); (4) the Department of Agriculture; (5) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); (6) the Smithsonian Institution; (7) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities; (8) the National Endowment for the Arts; and (9) the Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to extend employment eligibility confirmation pilot programs (including the E-Verify basic pilot program). Directs the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into a fiscal year agreement to provide funds to the Commissioner for the full costs of such programs in quarterly advances. Requires GAO studies regarding: (1) erroneous tentative nonconfirmations under the E-Verify program; and (2) the effects of such program on small entities. Amends the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to revise the exclusion from the meaning of "employee in the recreational marine industry" of any individuals employed to repair a recreational vessel or to dismantle any part of it in connection with its repair. Establishes a Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to invest in the infrastructure necessary to allow for and promote the electronic exchange and use of health information for each individual in the United States, consistent with the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Makes supplemental appropriations available to the Department of Education for: (1) education of the disadvantaged; (2) impact aid; (3) school improvement programs; (4) innovation and improvement activities; (5) special education; (6) rehabilitation services and disability research; (7) certain student financial assistance programs, as well as federal administrative expenses for such programs; (8) teacher quality partnership grants; (9) the Institute of Education Sciences; and (10) school modernization, renovation, and repair. Sets the maximum individual Pell Grant amount at $4,860 for award year 2009-2010. Establishes grant programs for the modernization, renovation, and repair of: (1) public elementary and secondary school facilities; and (2) higher education facilities that are primarily used for instruction, research, or student housing. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the amount authorized and appropriated for Pell Grants for FY2009-FY2010. Increases annual and aggregate student loan limits under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. Alters, on a temporary basis, the formula for calculating special allowance payments made to FFEL lenders to compensate them for the difference between FFEL interest rates and market rates. Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Corporation for National and Community Service; (2) the National Service Trust; (3) the Social Security Administration (SSA); (4) the DOD; (5) the Department of Veterans Affairs; (6) the Department of State; (7) the Department of Transportation; and (8) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Sets forth maintenance of effort and reporting requirements for a state or its agency awarded funds appropriated in this Act for a covered program. Establishes loan limits for calendar 2009 for: (1) the Federal Housing Administration (FHA); (2) the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae); (3) the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac); and (4) the FHA reverse mortgage. Establishes a State Stabilization Fund which the Secretary of Education is to use to provide grants to states: (1) to restore state funding for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education; (2) to supplement school improvement funds provided to local educational agencies (LEAs) under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and (3) for public safety and other government services. Reserves a portion of such Fund for: (1) awarding grants to states that make significant progress in addressing inequities in teacher distribution, establishing longitudinal education data systems, and improving educational assessments; and (2) establishing an Innovation Fund to award states, LEAs, and schools that make significant progress in closing student achievement gaps. Bars the use of such Fund to provide financial assistance to students to attend private elementary or secondary schools.
Law· HRH.R. 1 (111th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Designates: (1) each amount in this Act as an emergency requirement, necessary to meet certain emergency needs in accordance with the FY2008-FY2009 congressional budget resolutions; and (2) as an emergency for Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) principles. Establishes use-it-or-lose-it requirements for grantees using funds in specified accounts who have not entered into contracts or other binding commitments and used 50% of the funds awarded. Provides for redistribution of such uncommitted funds by the appropriate federal agency. Makes all funds appropriated by this Act available for obligation through FY2010, unless expressly provided otherwise. Makes additional appropriations to specified federal agency and departmental Offices of Inspector General. Appropriates additional amounts to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Prohibits the use of funds for: (1) casino or other gambling establishments, aquariums, zoos, golf courses, or swimming pools; or (2) a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron and steel used in the project is domestic, except in certain circumstances. Requires publication on the website Recovery.gov of: (1) all federal agency plans for using funds made available in this Act, as well as all related grant announcements; and (2) all federal, state, or local agency public notices regarding funds obligated to particular infrastructure investments. Prescribes review and reporting requirements for inspectors general of federal departments or executive agencies, the GAO, and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Establishes the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board, which shall establish the Recovery.gov website. Places limitations on the length of certain noncompetitive contracts. Grants the Comptroller General and the Offices of Inspector General access to certain contractors' or subcontractors' records or employees. Prohibits reprisals against state and local government and contractor whistleblowers. Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Department of Commerce; (3) the Department of Justice (DOJ); (4) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); (5) the National Science Foundation; (6) the Department of Defense (DOD); (7) the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers - Civil; (8) the Department of the Interior; and (9) the Department of Energy. Makes additional appropriations for FY2009 to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide a temporary increase in benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Amends the Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 to authorize the Western Area Power Administration to borrow funds from the Treasury for: (1) new or upgraded electric power transmission lines and related facilities; and (2) the delivery of power generated by renewable energy resources after enactment of this Act. Makes additional borrowing authority available to the Bonneville Power Administration. Appropriates funds for: (1) the General Services Administration (GSA) for the Federal Buildings Fund and the acquisition of energy-efficient motor vehicles; and (2) the Small Business Administration (SBA) for small business loan programs. Permits the SBA to guarantee up to 95% of qualifying small business loans made by eligible lenders. Authorizes the SBA to establish: (1) the SBA Secondary Market Lending Authority; and (2) the SBA Secondary Market Guarantee Authority. Authorizes the SBA to refinance: (1) SBA and non-SBA loans made to small businesses; and (2) loans made under the SBA's local development business loan program. Provides increased SBA loan leverage and investment limits. Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); (2) the Department of the Interior; (3) the Environmental Protection Agency; (4) the Department of Agriculture; (5) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); (6) the Smithsonian Institution; (7) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities; (8) the National Endowment for the Arts; (9) the Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration; and (10) the Department of Health and Human Services. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to extend employment eligibility confirmation pilot programs (including the E-Verify basic pilot program). Directs the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into a fiscal year agreement to provide funds to the Commissioner for the full costs of such programs in quarterly advances. Requires that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies regarding: (1) erroneous tentative nonconfirmations under the E-Verify program; and (2) the effects of such program on small entities. Amends the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to revise the exclusion from the meaning of "employee in the recreational marine industry" of any individuals employed to repair a recreational vessel or to dismantle any part of it in connection with its repair. Establishes a Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to invest in the infrastructure necessary to allow for and promote the electronic exchange and use of health information for each individual in the United States, consistent with the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Makes supplemental appropriations available to the Department of Education for: (1) education of the disadvantaged; (2) impact aid; (3) school improvement programs; (4) innovation and improvement activities; (5) special education; (6) rehabilitation services and disability research; (7) certain student financial assistance programs, as well as federal administrative expenses for such programs; (8) teacher quality partnership grants; (9) the Institute of Education Sciences; and (10) school modernization, renovation, and repair. Sets the maximum individual Pell Grant amount at $4,860 for award year 2009-2010. Establishes grant programs for the modernization, renovation, and repair of: (1) public elementary and secondary school facilities; and (2) higher education facilities that are primarily used for instruction, research, or student housing. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the amount authorized and appropriated for Pell Grants for FY2009-FY2010. Increases annual and aggregate student loan limits under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. Alters, on a temporary basis, the formula for calculating special allowance payments made to FFEL lenders to compensate them for the difference between FFEL interest rates and market rates. Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Corporation for National and Community Service; (2) the National Service Trust; (3) the Social Security Administration (SSA); (4) the DOD; (5) the Department of Veterans Affairs; (6) the Department of State; (7) the Department of Transportation; and (8) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Sets forth maintenance of effort and reporting requirements for a state or its agency awarded funds appropriated in this Act for a covered program. Establishes loan limits for calendar 2009 for: (1) the Federal Housing Administration (FHA); (2) the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae); (3) the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac); and (4) the FHA reverse mortgage. Establishes a State Stabilization Fund which the Secretary of Education is to use to provide grants to states: (1) to restore state funding for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education; (2) to supplement school improvement funds provided to local educational agencies (LEAs) under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and (3) for public safety and other government services. Reserves a portion of such Fund for: (1) awarding grants to states that make significant progress in addressing inequities in teacher distribution, establishing longitudinal education data systems, and improving educational assessments; and (2) establishing an Innovation Fund to award states, Leas, and schools that make significant progress in closing student achievement gaps. American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow through 2010 a refundable tax credit for the lesser of 6.2% of earned income or $500 ($1,000 for married couples filing jointly); (2) allow through 2010 increases in the earned income tax credit, the refundable portion of the child tax credit, and the Hope Scholarship tax credit; (3) allow a waiver of the the first-time home buyer tax credit repayment requirement for residences purchased after December 31, 2008, and before July 1, 2009; (4) extend through 2009 bonus depreciation and the increased expensing allowance for depreciable business assets; (5) extend from two to five years the carryback period for net operating losses; and (6) allow a work opportunity tax credit for certain unemployed veterans and disconnected youth hired in 2009 or 2010. Limits the applicability of Treasury Notice 2008-83 (suspending restrictions on the offset of net operating losses and unrealized built-in losses against the taxable income of certain corporate entities that acquire or merge with other entities) to periods prior to January 16, 2009. Suspends in 2009 or 2010 certain limitations on the tax deduction allowed to financial institutions for interest expense related to investments in tax-exempt bonds. Exempts interest earned on tax-exempt private activity bonds from the alternative minimum tax. Allows a new tax credit for investment in bonds for the construction, rehabilitation, or repair of public school facilities or for the acquisition of land for building a public school facility. Increases in 2009 and 2010 the issuance limitation for qualified zone academy bonds. Allows state or local governments to elect to receive direct federal payments equal to tax credit amounts for investment in tax-exempt bonds issued in 2009 and 2010. Allows a new tax credit for investment in recovery zone economic development and recovery zone facility bonds issued in 2009 and 2010. Repeals the 3% withholding requirement on payments by federal, state, or local governmental entities to individuals who provide property or services to such entities. Extends the tax credit for the production of electricity from wind facilities (through 2012) and from other renewable facilities (through 2013). Allows an election to claim an investment tax credit for renewable facilities placed in service in 2009 or 2010. Repeals limitations on the investment tax credit for energy property financed by subsidized energy financing or industrial development bonds. Increases the limitation amount on the issuance of new clean renewable energy bonds and qualified energy conservation bonds. Modifies and extends through 2010 the tax credit for improvements to energy-efficient residences. Increases through 2010 the tax credit for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property expenditures. Increases through 2010 the tax credit for qualified energy research expenses. Requires the application of certain federal labor standards to projects financed with clean renewable energy and conservation bonds, zone academy bonds, school construction bonds, and recovery zone economic development bonds. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make grants in 2009 to states for low-income housing projects in lieu of low-income housing credit allocations. Directs the Secretary of Energy to make grants in 2009 or 2010 in lieu of tax credits to investors in specified energy property (e.g., renewable energy property, fuel cell property, solar property, wind energy property, geothermal property, microturbine property, combined health and power system property, and geothermal heatpump property). Directs the Comptroller General to submit a report to the House Committee on Ways and Means on the economic, employment, and other effects of this Act. Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program. Provides for federal-state agreements for increased regular unemployment compensation payments to individuals. Requires federal payments to states to cover 100% of such additional payments. Amends Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Labor to make special transfers to state accounts in the Unemployment Trust Fund for unemployment compensation modernization incentive payments and for administration. Health Insurance Assistance for the Unemployed Act of 2009 - Provides for payment of a portion of an individual's premiums for any COBRA coverage (health insurance continuation benefits). Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act to allow COBRA coverage to continue past required termination dates for an employee who has attained age 55 or has completed ten or more years of service. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to allow states to provide coverage to individuals who are receiving unemployment compensation benefits or who have exhausted such benefits. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act or the HITECH Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Sets forth provisions governing the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of information. Amends SSA title XVIII (Medicare) to establish incentive payments for certain eligible physicians and hospitals that adopt and use certified electronic health record (EHR) technology meaningfully, beginning in FY2011. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to establish incentive payments to encourage the adoption and use by Medicaid providers of qualified electronic health records. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a grant program to enhance the meaningful use of certified electronic health records in nursing facilities. Sets forth provisions governing the privacy and security of health information, including requiring notifications for any breach of protected health information. Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from phasing out or eliminating the budget neutrality adjustment factor in the Medicare hospice wage index before October 1, 2009. Requires the Secretary to recompute and apply the final index for FY2009 as if there had been no reduction in the budget neutrality adjustment factor. Provides for non-application of the phased-out indirect medical education adjustment factor for FY2009. Makes technical corrections to the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 with respect to long-term care hospitals. Establishes a temporary increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) with respect to Medicaid payments, as well as payments under SSA title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance), for FY2009-FY2011 for eligible states, with optional FMAP increases authorized for specified U.S. territories. Extends from March 31, 2009, through June 30, 2009, the current moratoria on implementation of specified Medicaid and SCHIP regulations relating to cost limits for government-operated providers, the integrity of the federal-state Medicaid financial partnership, graduate medical education (GME) payments, Medicaid provider taxes, rehabilitative services, optional state plan case management services, and school-based administration and school-based transportation services. Imposes a moratorium through June 30, 2009, on implementation of a final regulation published on November 7, 2008, relating to Medicaid outpatient hospital services. Extends transitional medical assistance (TMA) from June 30, 2009, through December 31, 2010. Gives states the option of providing, during a presumptive eligibility period, Medicaid coverage for family planning services and supplies to individuals who are not pregnant and whose income does not exceed the highest income eligibility level for pregnant women established under the state's Medicaid or SCHIP programs. Prohibits state Medicaid programs from imposing cost-sharing requirements on Indians or Alaska Natives when the beneficiary is receiving an item or service directly from an Indian health care provider or through referral from a Contract Health Services provider. Amends SSA title XI to repeal establishment of the National Commission on Children. Directs the Secretary of HHS to maintain within the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services a Tribal Technical Advisory Group. Prescribes a temporary increase in state allotments for payments to Medicaid disproportionate share (DSH) hospitals. Requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop and maintain a map showing where broadband service is deployed and available in each state. Provides for grants for wireless deployment and broadband deployment. Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to report on a national broadband plan. Makes technical corrections to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). Revises requirements with respect to smart grid regional demonstration initiatives. Instructs the Secretary of Energy to establish a smart grid information clearinghouse. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary of Energy to make loan guarantees for rapid deployment before FY 2012 of renewable energy and electric power transmission projects. Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to increase the income eligibility level for the Weatherization Assistance Program, as well as the maximum amount of financial assistance. Instructs the Secretary to include specified analyses within the 2009 National Electric Transmission Congestion Study. Sets forth conditions for additional grants under the State Energy Program.
Bill· SS. 298 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2009
Financial Markets Commission Act of 2009 - Establishes in the legislative branch the Financial Markets Commission to: (1) examine all causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States, including the collapse of major financial and commercial firms and the deterioration of the credit and housing markets; and (2) investigate the role in the crisis, if any, of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), trading facilities for commodities and self-regulatory organizations, the federal banking agencies, any financial or commercial corporation, partnership, or entity, and any other governmental or non-governmental entity. Requires the Commission to: (1) report its findings and recommendations to the President and Congress; and (2) refer to the U.S. Attorney General and any appropriate state attorney general any person that the Commission finds may have violated federal laws in relation to the crisis.
Bill· HRH.R. 645 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2009
National Emergency Centers Establishment Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish at least six national emergency centers on military installations to use existing infrastructure to provide: (1) temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster; and (2) centralized locations for the training of first responders and the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Lists minimum requirements for sites for such centers, including that they be capable of: (1) meeting for an extended period the housing, health, transportation, education, public works, humanitarian, and other transition needs of a large number of individuals affected; (2) being scaled up or down to accommodate major disaster preparedness and response drills, operations, and procedures; (3) housing existing permanent structures necessary to meet training and first responders coordination requirements during non-disaster periods; and (4) hosting the infrastructure necessary to rapidly adjust to temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance needs. Sets forth center location requirements, including requiring the Secretary to designate closed military installations as sites whenever possible and to designate portions of existing military installations as centers otherwise.
Bill· HRH.R. 633 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2009
Prohibits federal funds from being used to: (1) transfer any enemy combatant detained by the United States at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar, California, or the Camp Pendleton Base Brig, California; or (2) construct housing facilities for such individuals at the California locations.
Bill· SS. 277 (111th)open
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2009
Serve America Act - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to create two new service-learning programs: (1) a Youth Engagement Zones to Strengthen Communities program, providing competitive grants to partnerships between local educational agencies that serve high-need, low-income communities and certain community-based or state entities to engage students and out-of-school youth in service-learning addressing specific challenges faced by their communities; and (2) a Campus of Service program, which annually grants up to 30 institutions of higher education (IHEs) with exemplary service-learning programs the funds to assist their students' pursuit of public service careers, and the right to nominate additional individuals for ServeAmerica Fellowships. Directs the Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation) to contract for a 10-year, longitudinal service-learning impact study. Establishes the Commission on Cross-Sector Solutions to America's Problems to study ways in which the federal government and businesses can more effectively collaborate with nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to address pressing national and local challenges. Creates a Community Solutions Funds Pilot program awarding competitive matching grants to grantmaking institutions or partnerships between such institutions and state or local governmental entities which will use the grants to provide competitive matching subgrants to community organizations for use in replicating or expanding proven solutions to specifically identified community challenges. Establishes an Innovation Fellowships Pilot program awarding competitive grants to individuals who are veterans, or have completed at least one period of national service, to establish innovative nonprofit organizations that address national and local challenges. Creates a ServeAmerica Corps program providing formula grants to states and awarding competitive grants to states and nonprofit organizations to fund national service in low-income communities by: (1) Clean Energy Service Corps that improve certain clean energy indicators, including energy efficiency and conservation measures; (2) Education Corps that improve certain education indicators, including student engagement, achievement, and graduation; (3) Healthy Futures Corps that improve certain health indicators, including health care access; (4) Opportunity Corps that improve certain opportunity indicators, including financial literacy and access to housing, and employment-related services; and (5) Encore programs designed to take advantage of the skills of participants age 50 and older. Creates additional incentives for national service participation by individuals age 50 and older. Makes ServeAmerica Corps participants eligible for national service educational awards. Directs a partnership composed of the Corporation, the Director of the Bureau of the Census, and the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to: (1) create a Civic Health Index enabling states and communities to assess their civic health; and (2) conduct research on, and assessments of, domestic and international volunteering. Establishes the ServeAmerica and Encore Fellowships program providing ServeAmerica Fellowships to IHE-nominated individuals and Encore Fellowships to individuals age 50 or older who agree to be placed with nonprofit organizations to carry out projects in specified areas of national need. Makes ServeAmerica fellows eligible for national service educational awards. Creates a Volunteer Generation Fund program awarding competitive matching grants to states and nonprofit organizations to increase the availability and capacity of volunteers to address state priorities with regard to areas of national need or work with nonprofit civic entities, including faith-based organizations, to address such needs. Establishes a National Service Reserve Corps of individuals who have completed a term of national service to respond to national disasters and other emergencies. Directs the Corporation, within 180 days of this Act's enactment, to conduct a nationwide Call to Service Campaign. Requires the Office of Volunteers for Prosperity (VfP) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement a VfPServe program providing skilled professionals with fixed-amount stipends to offset their costs of volunteering abroad to address specified VfP objectives aimed at ameliorating living conditions in developing countries.
Bill· HRH.R. 605 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2009
Pregnant Women Support Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to increase public awareness of resources available to pregnant women to carry their pregnancy to term and new parents. Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary to make grants for the purchase of ultrasound equipment for examinations of pregnant women. Prohibits a health insurance issuer offering individual coverage from imposing a preexisting condition exclusion or a waiting period or otherwise discriminating against a woman on the basis that she is pregnant. Provides for continuation coverage for newborns. Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to allow states to extend health care coverage to an unborn child. Requires health facilities that perform abortions to obtain informed consent from a pregnant woman seeking an abortion. Provides for the collection and dissemination of information on Down syndrome and other prenatally diagnosed conditions. Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) higher education pregnant and parenting student services offices; and (2) programs to work with pregnant or parenting teens to complete high school. Authorizes grants for services to pregnant women who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking. Requires states to require a pregnancy determination for homicide victims. Requires the Secretary to provide for comprehensive and supportive services for pregnant women, mothers, and children. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase and make refundable the tax credit for adoption expenses. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC program). Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to increase the eligibility threshold for food stamps. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Authorizes grants to provide to eligible mothers education on the health needs of their infants through visits to their homes by registered nurses. Authorizes grants for collecting and reporting abortion surveillance data.
Bill· HRH.R. 598 (111th)open
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow through 2010 a refundable tax credit for the lesser of 6.2% of earned income or $500 ($1,000 for married couples filing jointly); (2) allow through 2010 increases in the earned income tax credit, the refundable portion of the child tax credit, and the Hope Scholarship tax credit; (3) allow a waiver of the the first-time home buyer tax credit repayment requirement for residences purchased after December 31, 2008, and before July 1, 2009; (4) extend through 2009 bonus depreciation and the increased expensing allowance for depreciable business assets; (5) extend from two to five years the carryback period for net operating losses; and (6) allow a work opportunity tax credit for certain unemployed veterans and disconnected youth hired in 2009 or 2010. Limits the applicability of Treasury Notice 2008-83 (suspending restrictions on the offset of net operating losses and unrealized built-in losses against the taxable income of certain corporate entities that acquire or merge with other entities) to periods prior to January 16, 2009. Suspends in 2009 or 2010 certain limitations on the tax deduction allowed to financial institutions for interest expense related to investments in tax-exempt bonds. Exempts interest earned on tax-exempt private activity bonds from the alternative minimum tax. Allows a new tax credit for investment in bonds for the construction, rehabilitation, or repair of public school facilities or for the acquisition of land for building a public school facility. Increases in 2009 and 2010 the issuance limitation for qualified zone academy bonds. Allows state or local governments to elect to receive direct federal payments equal to tax credit amounts for investment in tax-exempt bonds issued in 2009 and 2010. Allows a new tax credit for investment in recovery zone economic development and recovery zone facility bonds issued in 2009 and 2010. Repeals the 3% withholding requirement on payments by federal, state, or local governmental entities to individuals who provide property or services to such entities. Extends the tax credit for the production of electricity from wind facilities (through 2012) and from other renewable facilities (through 2013). Allows an election to claim an investment tax credit for renewable facilities placed in service in 2009 or 2010. Repeals limitations on the investment tax credit for energy property financed by subsidized energy financing or industrial development bonds. Increases the limitation amount on the issuance of new clean renewable energy bonds and qualified energy conservation bonds. Modifies and extends through 2010 the tax credit for improvements to energy-efficient residences. Increases through 2010 the tax credit for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property expenditures. Increases through 2010 the tax credit for qualified energy research expenses. Requires the application of certain federal labor standards to projects financed with clean renewable energy and conservation bonds, zone academy bonds, school construction bonds, and recovery zone economic development bonds. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make grants in 2009 to states for low-income housing projects in lieu of low-income housing credit allocations. Directs the Secretary of Energy to make grants in 2009 or 2010 in lieu of tax credits to investors in specified energy property (e.g., renewable energy property, fuel cell property, solar property, wind energy property, geothermal property, microturbine property, combined health and power system property, and geothermal heatpump property). Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program. Provides for federal-state agreements for increased regular unemployment compensation payments to individuals. Requires federal payments to states to cover 100% of such additional payments. Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Labor to make special transfers to state accounts in the Unemployment Trust Fund for unemployment compensation modernization incentive payments and for administration. Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the SSA to establish in the Treasury the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants from the Fund to requesting states for purposes related to: (1) caseload increases; (2) increased expenditures for non-recurrent short-term benefits; and (3) increased expenditures for subsidized employment. Limits the total amount payable to a single state for a fiscal year to 25% of the state family assistance grant. Revises the formula for determining the caseload reduction credit for FY2008 and FY2009 under requirements for the pro rata reduction of the TANF mandatory work participation rate due to caseload reductions not required by federal law and not resulting from changes in state eligibility criteria. Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to make a one-time emergency payment in calendar 2009 to eligible individuals under SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI). Suspends for FY2008-FY2010 the prohibition against payments to states with respect to their plans for child and spousal support collection under SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) on account of amounts expended by a state from support collection performance incentive payments received from the Secretary of HHS (thus allowing such additional payments during such period). Health Insurance Assistance for the Unemployed Act of 2009 - Provides for payment of a portion of an individual's premiums for any COBRA coverage (health insurance continuation benefits). Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act to allow COBRA coverage to continue past required termination dates for an employee who has attained age 55 or has completed ten or more years of service. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the SSA to allow states to provide coverage to individuals who are receiving unemployment compensation benefits or who have exhausted such benefits. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act or the HITECH Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Sets forth provisions governing the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of information. Amends SSA title XVIII (Medicare) to establish incentive payments for certain eligible physicians and hospitals that adopt and use certified electronic health record technology meaningfully, beginning in FY2011. Amends SSA title XIX to establish incentive payments to encourage the adoption and use by Medicaid providers of qualified electronic health records. Requires determination of the maximum amount of such payments using a specified formula involving computation of an overall hospital health information technology amount. Sets forth provisions governing the privacy and security of health information, including requiring notifications for any breach of protected health information. Prohibits the Secretary of HHS from phasing out or eliminating the budget neutrality adjustment factor in the Medicare hospice wage index before October 1, 2009. Requires the Secretary to recompute and apply the final Medicare hospice wage index for FY2009 as if there had been no reduction in the budget neutrality adjustment factor. Provides for non-application of the phased-out indirect medical education adjustment factor for FY2009. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 with respect to long-term care hospitals.
Bill· HRH.R. 600 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2009
FHA Seller-Financed Downpayment Reform Act of 2009 - Amends the National Housing Act to make exceptions to the prohibition against mortgage insurance for mortgages involving a downpayment using funds furnished by: (1) the seller or any party that benefits financially from the transaction (seller-financed downpayment); or (2) any third party that is reimbursed by the seller or any such party. Makes eligible for mortgage insurance, in spite of a seller-financed downpayment, any mortagors with credit scores equivalent to a FICO score of: (1) 680 or more; (2) at least 620 but less than 680; or (3) 619 or less. Prescribes conditions for mortgage insurance in the latter two situations.
Bill· SS. 254 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of home infusion therapy and home infusion drugs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement the Medicare home infusion therapy benefit in a manner that ensures that: (1) Medicare beneficiaries have timely and appropriate access to infusion therapy in their homes; and (2) there is rapid and seamless coordination between drug coverage under Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) and home infusion therapy services coverage under Medicare part B (Supplemental Security Income).
Bill· SS. 253 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Fix Housing First Homebuyer Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the tax credit for first-time homebuyers by: (1) eliminating the first-time homebuyer requirement (thus making such credit available to all homebuyers); (2) eliminating the repayment requirement for such credit except for resales of a principal residence, or failure to occupy such residence, at any time within three years of purchase; (3) exempting from the repayment requirement members of the Armed Forces who are ordered to relocate; (4) extending the period for purchasing a residence until December 31, 2009; (5) allowing taxpayers who purchase a residence before 2010 to claim such credit on either their 2008 or 2009 tax returns; (6) increasing the maximum amount of such credit and the adjusted gross income thresholds for reductions in the credit amount; (7) allowing taxpayers to transfer their anticipated credit amount to another individual for specified purposes, including making a downpayment on a portion of a purchase price of a principal residence; and (8) extending eligibility for the credit to taxpayers who purchase residences financed with state and local tax-exempt bonds.
Bill· SS. 268 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Green-Collar Youth Jobs, Education, and Training Stimulus Act - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Labor to expand the Job Corps program to: (1) establish a Green Job Corps program that provides for the development of academic skills and paid jobs in green-collar industries to create a corps of energy- and environmentally-conscious consumers; and (2) award YouthBuild Build Green Grants and Green-Collar Youth Opportunity Grants to eligible entities and organizations to provide eligible youth with education, jobs, and training in green-collar industries, including the weatherization and energy retrofitting of low-income homes and buildings.
Bill· SS. 270 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Pregnant Women Support Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to increase public awareness of resources available to pregnant women to carry their pregnancy to term and new parents. Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary to make grants for the purchase of ultrasound equipment for examinations of pregnant women. Prohibits a health insurance issuer offering individual coverage from imposing a preexisting condition exclusion or a waiting period or otherwise discriminating against a woman on the basis that she is pregnant. Provides for continuation coverage for newborns. Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to allow states to extend health care coverage to an unborn child. Requires health facilities that perform abortions to obtain informed consent from a pregnant woman seeking an abortion. Provides for the collection and dissemination of information on Down syndrome and other prenatally diagnosed conditions. Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) higher education pregnant and parenting student services offices; and (2) programs to work with pregnant or parenting teens to complete high school. Authorizes grants for services to pregnant women who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking. Requires states to require a pregnancy determination for homicide victims. Requires the Secretary to provide for comprehensive and supportive services for pregnant women, mothers, and children. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC program). Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to increase the eligibility threshold for food stamps. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Authorizes grants to provide to eligible mothers education on the health needs of their infants through visits to their homes by registered nurses. Authorizes grants for collecting and reporting abortion surveillance data.
Bill· SS. 252 (111th)open
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Veterans Health Care Authorization Act of 2009 - Revises or adds provisions concerning Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) personnel matters, including: (1) the retention of medical professionals; (2) limitations on duty and alternative work schedules for nurses; (3) educational assistance programs; and (4) standards for the appointment and practice of VA physicians. Revises or adds provisions concerning VA health care matters, including: (1) care furnished to children of Vietnam veterans; (2) medical records disclosures; (3) health care quality management; (4) pilot programs on training and certification for family caregivers, respite care to members of the Armed Forces and veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI), the use of community-based organizations and local and state entities to ensure that veterans receive authorized care and benefits, and the provision of dental insurance plans to veterans and their survivors and dependents; (5) specialized residential care and rehabilitation; (6) the use of non-VA facilities for the rehabilitation of veterans with TBI; and (7) the inclusion of certain tribal organizations in programs for state veterans homes. Revises or adds provisions concerning women veterans health care, including: (1) reports on barriers to their receipt of health care, and full-time women veterans program managers at medical centers; (2) pilot programs or studies on the health consequences of women veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, counseling for women veterans recently separated from service, and subsidies for child care for women veterans receiving health care; (3) training and certification for mental health care providers caring for veterans suffering from sexual trauma; and (4) care for newborn children of veterans receiving maternity care. Revises or adds provisions concerning veterans' mental health care, including: (1) services provided through the Readjustment Counseling Service; and (2) a study on veteran suicides. Revises or adds provisions concerning homeless veterans, including pilot programs on financial support for entities providing: (1) supportive services for formerly homeless veterans residing on certain military property or other permanent housing; (2) outreach about pension benefits; and (3) transportation, child care, and clothing assistance to homeless veterans entitled to a rehabilitation program. Revises or adds provisions concerning VA nonprofit research and education corporations. Expands the authority of VA police officers, and provides them a uniform allowance.
Bill· HRH.R. 574 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of home infusion therapy and home infusion drugs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement the Medicare home infusion therapy benefit in a manner that ensures that: (1) Medicare beneficiaries have timely and appropriate access to infusion therapy in their homes; and (2) there is rapid and seamless coordination between drug coverage under Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) and home infusion therapy services coverage under Medicare part B (Supplemental Security Income).
Bill· HRH.R. 587 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Increases the loan limits during calendar 2009 for: (1) the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single family housing mortgage insurance programs and the reverse mortgage program; and (2) the conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during 2009. Declares that, if the dollar amount limitation on the principal obligation of a mortgage for which the mortgagee issues credit approval during 2009 for any size residence for any area is less than the dollar amount limitation in effect for 2008 under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, the maximum dollar amount limitation on the principal obligation of such a mortgage shall be considered to be the dollar amount limitation in effect for 2008. Declares that, if the conforming loan limitation on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage originated during 2009 that may purchased by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) for any size residence for any area is less than the maximum original principal obligation limitation in effect for 2008 under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, the conforming loan limitation shall be the maximum in effect for 2008. Declares that, for a home equity conversion mortgage (reverse mortgage) for which the mortgagee issues credit approval during 2009, the maximum dollar amount limitation on mortgage insurance benefits shall be considered to require that in no case may such benefits exceed 150% of the limitation on the maximum original principal obligation in effect for conventional mortgages under the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 583 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Community Partners Next Door Act of 2009 - Amends the National Housing Act to provide: (1) a 50% discount for teachers, teacher assistants, administrators, and public safety officers purchasing certain eligible asset properties for use as their primary residence; (2) a $100 downpayment on any related insured mortgage; and (3) a higher Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan limit for such purchases in high-cost areas. Authorizes such sales directly to a qualifying individual or to a unit of local government or a nonprofit organization for resale to such individual. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to carry out a program to inform teachers and public safety officers about such program.
Bill· HRH.R. 582 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2009
Public Housing Drug Elimination Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 - Amends the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 to authorize appropriations for the assisted housing drug elimination program. Limits activities for programs designed to reduce drug use in and around assisted low-income housing to: (1) providing drug abuse treatment through rehabilitation or relapse prevention; (2) providing education about the dangers and consequences of drug use or violent crime; (3) identifying drug users, and assisting drug use discontinuance through education or treatment programs; (4) providing after school youth activities; and (5) providing capital improvements and security services to discourage or eliminate drug use or violent crime.
Bill· SS. 241 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2009
Home Retention and Economic Stabilization Act of 2009 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to establish the right of an eligible deferred-foreclosure consumer, defendable in court, to defer initiation of a foreclosure or related action, including a foreclosure sale, brought by any creditor, servicer, or holder of an eligible deferred-foreclosure mortgage, during a specified deferment period. Declares invalid any foreclosure action or proceeding regarding a deferred-foreclosure mortgage if the creditor or servicer fails to notify the consumer: (1) at least 30 days before instituting the action or proceeding; and (2) at least once during each subsequent 30-day period until the foreclosure becomes final. Prescribes procedures governing: (1) initiating foreclosure deferment; (2) payment notices during the deferment period; and (3) the manner of consumer payment during the deferment period. Amortizes over the life of the mortgage the difference between the amount of monthly payment due under the eligible deferred-foreclosure mortgage and the deferment payment amount. Prohibits a creditor or servicer from imposing any late fee or other fee or charge during the deferment period. Requires the creditor or servicer to provide the consumer with separate, written notification, distinct from all other correspondence, regarding: (1) any interest rate increase with respect to a sub-prime mortgage; (2) any minimum monthly payment increase with respect to a negative amortization mortgage; (3) clear and conspicuous disclosure of the good faith estimate of the monthly payment applicable after the adjustment or reset date; and (4) a list of alternatives available to consumers prior to the date of adjustment or increase. Authorizes appropriations for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to implement foreclosure mitigation activities, which may include use for costs of providing additional counselors, translators, and other staffers and costs of providing additional computers and improving databases and overall operations to better assist mortgagor families.
Bill· SS. 249 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2009
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify low-income building units that provide housing for a student who previously was a homeless child or youth for the low-income housing tax credit.
Bill· HRH.R. 527 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2009
Home Retention and Economic Stabilization Act of 2009 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to establish the right of an eligible deferred-foreclosure consumer, defendable in court, to defer initiation of a foreclosure or related action, including a foreclosure sale, brought by any creditor, servicer, or holder of an eligible deferred-foreclosure mortgage, during a specified deferment period. Declares invalid any foreclosure action or proceeding regarding a deferred-foreclosure mortgage if the creditor or servicer fails to notify the consumer: (1) at least 30 days before instituting the action or proceeding; and (2) at least once during each subsequent 30-day period until the foreclosure becomes final. Prescribes procedures governing: (1) initiating foreclosure deferment; (2) payment notices during the deferment period; and (3) the manner of consumer payment during the deferment period. Amortizes over the life of the mortgage the difference between the amount of monthly payment due under the eligible deferred-foreclosure mortgage and the deferment payment amount. Prohibits a creditor or servicer from imposing any late fee or other fee or charge during the deferment period. Requires the creditor or servicer to provide the consumer with separate, written notification, distinct from all other correspondence, regarding: (1) any interest rate increase with respect to a sub-prime mortgage; (2) any minimum monthly payment increase with respect to a negative amortization mortgage; (3) clear and conspicuous disclosure of the good faith estimate of the monthly payment applicable after the adjustment or reset date; and (4) a list of alternatives available to consumers prior to the date of adjustment or increase. Authorizes appropriations for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to implement foreclosure mitigation activities, which may include use for costs of providing additional counselors, translators, and other staffers and costs of providing additional computers and improving databases and overall operations to better assist mortgagor families.
Bill· HRH.R. 514 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2009
Responsible Subprime Lending Act - States that certain revisions added as a final rule by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) to regulation Z relating to Truth in Lending, shall apply as a matter of law to covered loans for which the creditor receives an application after the end of the 30-day period beginning on the enactment of this Act (except for the final rules on advertising, escrows, and loan servicing). States that certain final rules on escrows shall be effective for covered loans for which the creditor receives an application on or after October 1, 2009, but for such loans [ sic ] secured by manufactured housing on or after April 1, 2010. Directs the Board to issue a final rule as soon as possible without regard to statutory notice and comment procedures to make certain revisions in accordance with the effective dates provided under this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 475 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2009
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify low-income building units that provide housing for a student who previously was a homeless child or youth for the low-income housing tax credit.
Bill· HRH.R. 476 (111th)open
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2009
Housing Fairness Act of 2009 - Instructs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to conduct, and report to Congress on, a nationwide testing program to: (1) detect and document differences in the treatment of persons seeking to rent or purchase housing or obtain or refinance a home mortgage loan; (2) measure patterns of adverse treatment because of the race, color, religion, sex, familial status, disability status, or national origin of a renter, home buyer, or borrower; and (3) measure the prevalence of such discriminatory practices across housing and mortgage lending markets. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 to reauthorize the fair housing initiatives program. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary should: (1) fully comply with such Act's requirements to establish, design, and maintain a national education and outreach program for the development and dissemination of the fair housing rights of individuals who seek to rent, purchase, sell, or facilitate the sale of a home; (2) use all amounts appropriated for such program; and (3) promulgate regulations on the fair housing obligations of each recipient of federal housing funds to affirmatively further fair housing. Directs the Secretary to implement a competitive matching grant program to assist private nonprofit organizations in: (1) conducting comprehensive studies of specified aspects of the causes and effects of housing discrimination and segregation; and (2) implementing pilot projects that test solutions to help prevent or alleviate housing discrimination and segregation.
Bill· HRH.R. 472 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2009
Family Foreclosure Rescue Corporation Act of 2009 - Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to establish: (1) a Family Foreclosure Rescue Corporation (FFRC) to purchase home mortgage loans from any financial institution; and (2) a program to guarantee home mortgages. Establishes a Home Mortgage Insurance Financing Fund within the FFRC and a FFRC Oversight Board. Requires the Secretary, to the extent home mortgages (including those securing loans for multifamily housing) are acquired, to implement a plan that seeks to maximize loan restructuring on a sustainable basis and to minimize foreclosures. Authorizes the use of loan guarantees and other credit enhancements to: (1) facilitate loan modifications; (2) prevent avoidable foreclosures; and (3) provide necessary liquidity to home mortgage markets. Requires the federal property manager (the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), or the Federal Reserve Board), to the extent that it holds, owns, or controls mortgages, mortgage backed securities, and other assets secured by residential real estate, to: (1) implement a systematic plan that seeks to maximize assistance for homeowners and minimize foreclosures; (2) use its authority to modify the mortgage loans it holds; and (3) provide incentives to the servicers of other mortgage loans to take advantage of the HOPE for Homeowners Program under the National Housing Act, authorities under this Act, and other available programs to minimize foreclosures. Directs each federal property manager to make available for purchase at a discount, to any state or local government receiving emergency assistance under the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes and residential properties, of any residential properties it owns through foreclosure in that state or locality. Directs the Secretary to use authority under this Act in a manner that will minimize any potential long-term negative impact on the taxpayer. Requires the Secretary to make available to the public, in electronic form, specified information on assets acquired under this Act within two business days of purchase, trade, or other disposition. Directs the Comptroller General to undertake ongoing oversight of the activities and performance of the Secretary under this Act, and of any agents and representatives. Subjects actions of the Secretary to judicial review. Allows a Qualified Special Purpose Entity (QSPE) to participate in any program established under this Act by selling, disposing of, or modifying any home mortgage loan from the QSPE's assets without altering its status as a QSPE. Declares that, if a Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit (REMIC) sells, modifies or otherwise disposes of a home mortgage loan under any program established under this Act: (1) such sale, modification, or disposition shall not be treated as a prohibited transaction under the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) an interest in the REMIC shall not fail to be treated as a regular interest solely because of such a transaction, and any proceeds of the transaction shall be treated as amounts received under qualified mortgages. Specifies circumstances in which a REMIC shall cease to be one.
Bill· SS. 195 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2009
Taxpayer Protection Act - Makes a federal financial entity (the Secretary of the Treasury, members of the Financial Institutions Examination Council, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency) that provides emergency economic assistance to any private entity subject to oversight, reporting, accountability, and transparency provisions of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Requires monthly reports to Congress on the recipients of such assistance and the collateral provided. Requires the intended recipient of such assistance, before receiving funds, to agree in writing to specified conditions regarding: (1) monthly reports to Congress; (2) access by the financial entity to relevant personnel and data; (3) limits on executive compensation; (4) prohibitions on bonuses to the recipient's 25 most highly compensated employees; (5) prohibitions on the use of assistance for entertainment and lobbying expenditures; and (6) the sale or divestiture of passenger aircraft. Considers any violation of such agreement as a default on the recipient's obligation. Directs the Attorney General to establish a Taxpayer Protection Prosecution Task Force to: (1) investigate and prosecute financial fraud that contributed to the collapse of our financial markets; (2) seek to recover any ill-gotten gains; and (3) make recommendations about extending the statute of limitation for complex financial fraud. Establishes the Financial Market Investigation and Reform Commission to: (1) report on the causes of the collapse of the nation's financial system and credit crisis; (2) report on the extent to which federal entities had information on risky or reckless financial practices that posed a threat to the financial system's well-being; (3) build on any investigations by congressional committees and federal banking agencies to avoid duplication of effort; and (4) report to the President and Congress with recommendations to prevent a similar crisis in the future.
Bill· HRH.R. 403 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2009
Homes for Heroes Act of 2009 - Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to establish in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) a Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs to: (1) ensure veteran access to HUD housing and homeless assistance programs; (2) coordinate all HUD programs and activities relating to veterans; and (3) serve as a HUD liaison with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Directs the HUD Secretary to provide assistance to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives to expand the supply of supportive housing for very low-income veteran families (that is, families with incomes not exceeding 50% of the area median income). Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to: (1) make housing rental vouchers available to all homeless veterans, regardless of medical condition; and (2) include veterans in public housing planning. Excludes veterans' benefits from income for purposes of HUD assisted housing rental determinations. Requires the Secretary to: (1) make grants to nonprofit entities for technical assistance in sponsoring HUD housing projects for veterans; and (2) report annually to specified congressional committees and the VA Secretary on HUD activities relating to veterans.
Bill· HRH.R. 384 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2009
TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009 - Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to require specified depository institutions under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to report periodically on their use of TARP assistance. Requires the Secretary to incorporate within the TARP assistance agreement how the funds are to be used and the benchmarks an institution must meet in using such funds. Requires federal banking regulatory agencies to examine annually the use of TARP funds made by the deposit institutions. Prohibits the use of TARP funds by a TARP-assisted institution for mergers or acquisitions unless such a transaction: (1) will reduce risk to the taxpayer; or (2) could have been consummated without such funds. Sets forth executive compensation and corporate governance requirements. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to require that reports of condition submitted by federally-assisted deposit institutions include the amount of any increase or decrease in new lending attributable to TARP investment or assistance. Amends the Act to condition TARP assistance to a depository institution upon its issuance to the Secretary of common stock warrants. Instructs the Secretary to make TARP available funds to smaller community financial institutions. Increases the size of the Financial Stability Oversight Board and authorizes it to overturn by a 2/3 vote any policy determination made by the Secretary. Conditions TARP assistance upon development of a Board-approved foreclosure mitigation and implementation plan. Cites circumstances in which a servicer shall not be: (1) liable for entering into a loan modification or workout plan with respect to any mortgage that meets specified criteria; (2) limited in the ability to modify mortgages, the number of mortgages that can be modified, the frequency of loan modifications, or the range of permissible modifications; or (3) obligated to repurchase loans or otherwise make payments to the securitization vehicle on account of a modification, workout, or other loss mitigation plan for residential mortgages that constitute a part or all of the mortgages in the securitization vehicle. Directs the President to designate officers from the Executive Branch (President's designees) to implement specified purposes, including the restructuring necessary to achieve the long-term financial viability of domestic automobile manufacturers. Requires the President's designees to: (1) authorize and direct the disbursement of bridge loans to, or to enter into commitments for lines of credit for, each automobile manufacturer that submitted a loan request and a plan to Congress on December 2, 2008; and (2) determine measures to assess the progress of each eligible automobile manufacturer toward transforming such plan into a restructuring plan. Conditions such bridge loans upon an eligible automobile manufacturer's issuance of common stock warrants to the President's designee. Subjects bridge loan recipients to specified standards for executive compensation and corporate governance. Grants the Comptroller General oversight authority over the President's designee. Makes it the duty of the Special Inspector General to audit and investigate the President's designee. Requires the President's designee to report to Congress within five days of making any such bridge loan. Authorizes the Secretary to establish or support: (1) facilities for the availability of consumer loans, including vehicle and student loans; (2) state and local governments, and other issuers of municipal securities, experiencing difficulty accessing financing in the capital markets (including direct purchases and credit enhancement); and (3) facilities to support the availability of commercial real estate loans, including asset-backed securities. Amends the National Housing Act to revise the HOPE for Homeowners Program to: (1) revise requirements governing insured mortgages and premium payments; (2) authorize the Program's Board of Directors to establish a payment to the servicer of the existing senior mortgage for every loan insured under the Program; and (3) instruct the Secretary to fund increased credit subsidy costs. Instructs the Secretary to implement a program to stimulate demand for home purchases and to reduce unsold inventories of residential properties, ensuring the availability of affordable interest rates on mortgages made for the purchase of one- to four-family residential properties. Amends the FDIA and the Federal Credit Union Act to make permanent the increase in the standard maximum deposit insurance amount from $100,000 to $250,000. Revises requirements for systemic risk special assessments (to recover any loss to the Deposit Insurance Fund arising from actions taken or assistance provided with respect to an insured depository institution) to include assessments on depository institution holding companies.
Bill· HRH.R. 418 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2009
Safe Access in Fire Emergencies Act of 2009 - Requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to establish a consumer product safety standard for window bars that: (1) requires all window bars manufactured or installed in the United States to incorporate releasing systems that meet minimum standards; and (2) addresses such systems for interior and exterior based bars. Provides that the minimum standards shall require that such systems provide for: (1) egress when actuated; and (2) manual activation from inside a residence allowing escape through a protected opening. Requires compliance enforcement under the Consumer Product Safety Act. Directs the CPSC to require each manufacturer to include in the packaging a statement explaining window bar installation and releasing system operation. Expresses the sense of Congress that public housing, low-income housing, manufactured housing units, and homes purchased using any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under the National Housing Act should meet a minimal standard that requires window bars to incorporate an emergency releasing system. Requires the CPSC to establish and maintain a National Electronic Injury Surveillance System code and system for collection of information and statistics on casualties associated with window bars.
Bill· HRH.R. 320 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2009
CJ's Home Protection Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to issue a final order establishing federal manufactured home construction and safety standards within 90 days of receiving specified proposed standards. Amends the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to require such standards to require each manufactured home delivered for sale to be supplied with a weather radio: (1) capable of broadcasting emergency information relating to local weather conditions; (2) equipped with a tone alarm and Specific Alert Message Encoding, or SAME technology; and (3) compliant with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Standard 2009-A Performance Specification for Public Alert Receivers (or its current revision). Shields from liability the operator, owner, or employee of a mobile home community, or the mobile home manufacturer, with respect to any reminder, assistance, or instructions the community operator provides concerning the functionality of a manufactured home's weather radio or smoke detector.
Bill· HRH.R. 330 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2009
Metro Economies Green Act or MEGA - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a metro area green zone grant program to make grants to local government units to support and establish green job programs that: (1) target low-income, difficult-to-employ, and formerly incarcerated persons; and (2) involve local business, academia, trade associations, nonprofits, and other stakeholders in energy-efficient economic development and green job training and creation. Authorizes the Secretary also to establish competitive programs to make grants to local government units to support and establish: (1) a similar mini-metro green program that engages smaller communities in green economic and workforce development; and (2) an alternative green academies program that provides green job training, employment opportunities, and other life skills to high school dropouts, formerly incarcerated youth, and individuals unable to attend traditional institutions of higher education. Directs the Secretary to select one unit of general local government or nonprofit organization designated by such a unit to establish and operate a Metro Area Green Institute to serve as a national resource center to support municipally based, green economic and workforce development efforts.
Bill· HRH.R. 342 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2009
Heritage Homes Tax Incentive Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to grant a tax deduction (whether or not the taxpayer itemizes deductions) for 125 percent of residence interest paid or accrued on acquisition indebtedness for heritage homes. Defines a "heritage home" as a taxpayer's principal residence that is at least 50 years old and a certified historic structure in a registered historic district.
Bill· HRH.R. 292 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2009
Department of Veterans Affairs Energy Sustainability Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) implement in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) an energy sustainability program to minimize energy consumption and encourage the use of alternative energy sources; (2) establish and maintain a database to track and report on VA energy and water expenditures; (3) complete an audit of VA energy usage during FY2010; (4) ensure VA compliance with an Executive Order and VA Directive concerning energy efficiency goals and objectives; (5) report to Congress on the use of funds for the installation of alternative fueling stations at 35 VA medical facility campuses; (6) submit to Congress a plan for increasing the use of energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies in VA facilities and operations; (7) provide for the installation of individual electric sub-metering equipment at VA facilities; (8) ensure that energy-efficient products meeting VA requirements are purchased whenever the VA purchases items that consume electricity; and (9) conduct a study on water and fuel consumption by the National Cemetery Administration and ways to reduce such consumption. Establishes in the VA: (1) an Office of Energy Management; and (2) the Advisory Committee on Energy Management and Sustainability. Authorizes an increase in the dollar limit of VA grants for: (1) adaptive housing to encourage the use of high-efficiency systems and products or other energy-use reduction items; and (2) adaptive vehicles to encourage the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Energy to enter into a memorandum of understanding to improve and facilitate the use of expertise of the national laboratories to evaluate energy- and water-efficient technologies for use by the VA. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a pilot program to sell economic incentives that reduce the emission of air pollutants attributable to a VA facility. Directs the Secretary or any other VA official required by law to submit a report to Congress to submit a copy of the report in an electronic format.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 34 (111th)passed
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2009
Expresses commitment to the welfare and survival of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders and recognizes its right to act in self-defense. Reiterates that Hamas must end the rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence, agree to accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure. Encourages the Administration to work to support a sustainable cease-fire in Gaza that prevents Hamas from retaining or rebuilding its terrorist infrastructure. States that the lives of innocent civilians must be protected to the maximum extent possible. Calls on all nations to: (1) condemn Hamas for embedding its fighters, leaders, and weapons in private homes, schools, mosques, hospitals, and otherwise using Palestinian civilians as human shields while simultaneously targeting Israeli civilians; and (2) lay blame for the breaking of the calm and for subsequent civilian casualties on Hamas. Supports efforts to diminish the influence of extremists in the Palestinian territories. Calls: (1) on Egypt to intensify its efforts to halt smuggling between Gaza and Egypt; and (2) for the release of the kidnaped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Reiterates support for a two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Bill· HRH.R. 244 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2009
Instructs the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress on the Secretary's review of the fuel supply plan components of state evacuation plans and the National Capital region. Prescribes report contents. Authorizes the Secretary, during any federally declared emergency or disaster, to provide direct assistance to private sector entities that operate critical energy infrastructure, including refineries. Allows such assistance to include emergency preparation and recovery assistance, particularly power generation equipment, other protective or emergency recovery equipment, assistance to restore access to water, power, or other raw materials, and transportation and housing for critical employees. Establishes in the Treasury the Critical Energy Assurance Account.
Bill· HRH.R. 262 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2009
David Ray Ritcheson Hate Crime Prevention Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow victims of hate crimes to claim unemployment insurance for loss of employment directly resulting from their experience as victims of such crimes. Prohibits health care insurers from taking into account whether a person is or has been a victim of a hate crime when making a determination as to eligibility for insurance coverage, the rate or premium of an insurance plan or policy, and the amount of insurance coverage provided. Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow a victim of a hate crime to take family and medical leave. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to award grants to provide housing to victims of a hate crime, homeless individuals who require housing assistance as a result of being a victim of a hate crime, and individuals for whom emergency shelter services are unavailable or insufficient. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to: (1) provide counseling and related assistance to victims of hate crimes and their dependents; (2) establish and operate a national clearinghouse and resource center for information and statistics relating to the incidence and prevention of hate crimes; and (3) establish and operate a national, toll-free telephone hotline and a website to provide information and assistance to victims of hate crimes. Requires the head of each federal agency to establish prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation programs and services relating to hate crimes for employees. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to local educational agencies and institutions of high education to improve and provide programs relating to hate crimes.
Bill· HRH.R. 230 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2009
Housing Opportunity and Mortgage Equity Act of 2009 - Directs the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (the enterprises) to implement a program to purchase and securitize qualified refinancing mortgages and qualified new mortgages on single-family housing in accordance with policies and procedures established by the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Sets forth requirements for the purchase and securitization of qualified mortgages. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to establish a credit facility of the Federal Reserve System to make credit available to the enterprises at interest rates comparable to certain rates on securities issued by the Secretary of the Treasury. Terminates the requirement under this Act for the enterprises to purchase mortgages after December 31, 2010.
Bill· SS. 117 (111th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Act of 2009 - Prohibits a foreclosure consultant from: (1) receiving compensation from a homeowner for services performed regarding residential real property until such consultant has fully performed each service contracted for; (2) holding power of attorney from any homeowner, except to inspect documents; (3) receiving consideration from a third party in connection with services rendered to a homeowner regarding the foreclosure, unless such consideration is fully, clearly, and conspicuously disclosed before such services are rendered; (4) accepting any security to secure compensation for services rendered regarding foreclosure of the residential real property; or (5) acquiring any interest in the residence of a homeowner with whom the consultant has contracted. Sets forth contract requirements. Permits a homeowner to cancel such contract without penalty or obligation. Declares void and unenforceable: (1) any waiver by a homeowner of the protections provided in this Act; and (2) any contract that does not comply with this Act. Requires a loan servicer to notify a homeowner of the dangers of fraudulent activities associated with foreclosure if the servicer finds that the homeowner has failed to make two consecutive payments on a residential mortgage loan at risk of foreclosure. Subjects a foreclosure consultant who fails to comply with this Act to liability for actual and punitive damages and for attorneys' fees. Empowers the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the states to enforce this Act.