Hot Bills

S.1723 - Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act of 2011 A small piece of the larger jobs bill proposed by President Obama, S.1660, this bill would provide $35 billion to state and local governments to prevents layoffs of public workers and first responders. The spending would be offset with a 0.5% surtax on all income earned above $1 million.

S.1660 - American Jobs Act of 2011 This is the Obama jobs bill as announced before a joint session of Congress on September 8th. It would extend several stimulus measure that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2011, including the employee payroll tax holiday, extended unemployment insurance, and accelerated expensing for businesses. It also includes several new measures designed to prevent layoffs and encourage businesses to hire new workers. These include $35 billion in aid to local governments to help slow job losses in the public sector, about $100 billion in various infrastructure improvement programs, tax credits for businesses that hire long-term unemployed workers, and reductions in the level of payroll taxes that businesses have to pay. Previously S.1549.

S.1549 - American Jobs Act of 2011 This is the Obama jobs bill as announced before a joint session of Congress on September 8th. It would extend several stimulus measure that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2011, including the employee payroll tax holiday, extended unemployment insurance, and accelerated expensing for businesses. It also includes several new measures designed to prevent layoffs and encourage businesses to hire new workers. These include $35 billion in aid to local governments to help slow job losses in the public sector, about $100 billion in various infrastructure improvement programs, tax credits for businesses that hire long-term unemployed workers, and reductions in the level of payroll taxes that businesses have to pay. The stimulus provisions would add $447 billion to the deficit over the next ten years, although it suggests offsetting the costs by raising taxes on wealthy Americans and by closing corporate tax loopholes.

H.R.25 - Fair Tax Act This bill would eliminate all federal income taxes, payroll taxes and the estate tax, and replace them with a federal sales tax of 23% on the use or consumption of all goods, properties and services. The Internal Revenue Service would be abolished and replaced by an Excise Tax Bureau and a Sales Tax Bureau in the Department of the Treasury.

S.940 - Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act Repeals five tax subsidies for U.S. oil companies and closes a loophole that oil companies use to disguise foreign royalty payments as taxes and reduce their domestic tax bill. All savings under the bill would be applied to reducing federal budget deficits.

H.R.87 Repeals the regulatory reforms enacted by congressional Democrats and President Obama in response to the 2008 financial crisis. No new reforms would be put in their place under the bill.

H.R.1489 - Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2011

S.J.Res.29 This constitutional amendment would overturn the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission and 1976 Buckley v. Valeo rulings by asserting that Congress and state legislatures have authority to regulate the raising and spending of money for elections.

S.219 - Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act Would require senators and Senate candidates to file their campaign finance disclosure forms electronically so the information can be made public in a more timely manner. Senate campaigns are the only federal political committees that are not required to file their disclosures electronically.

S.1498 - Super Committee Sunshine Act Would require the 12 members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (a.k.a. Super Congress) created by the debt ceiling bill to disclose all campaign contributions above $1,000 within 48 hours while serving on the committee.

S.750 - Fair Elections Now Act This bill would establish a public funding system for House elections and outlines eligibility and contribution requirements, as well as prohibitions such as those on joint fundraising committees. Under the system, candidates would raise a large number of small-donor contributions in order to receive additional public Fair Elections funding, determined based on the size of the state and split 40/60 between the primary and general elections. Fair Election candidates would be eligible for additional public funds if they continue to raise more small donations. The system would be funded through a new fee on government contractors and through an auction of unused broadcast spectrum.

H.R.1404 - Fair Elections Now Act This bill would establish a public funding system for House elections and outlines eligibility and contribution requirements, as well as prohibitions such as those on joint fundraising committees. Under the system, candidates would raise a large number of small-donor contributions in order to receive additional public Fair Elections funding, $900,000 split 40/60 between the primary and general elections. Fair Election candidates would be eligible for additional public funds if they continue to raise more small donations. The system would be funded through a new fee on government contractors and through an auction of unused broadcast spectrum.

H.R.204 - Congressional Pay Cut Act Cuts salaries for Members of Congress by 5 percent.

S.Res.12 According to Udall's office, this bill would -- * Level the playing field between the majority and the minority on cloture votes; * Provide a way to amend a bill when the majority leader is blocking new amendments; * Shorten the time frame required to stop a filibuster; * Reduce the number of votes required to end debate on a single bill; * End the reading of amendments when they are made available in advance; * Eliminate unnecessary delay on judicial nominations; and * End the requirement that Senate committees seek consent to hold meetings. More details can be found here.

H.R.2306 - Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011 Amends the Controlled Substances Act so that marijuana would no longer be considered a scheduled drug, allowing states to establish their own laws and regulations. All federal penalties for production, distribution and possession of the drug would be repealed. The only federal authority that would remain would be prevention of marijuana traveling over state borders in violation of the individual states' laws.

S.782 - Economic Development Revitalization Act of 2011 Would reauthorize and expand the Economic Development Administration, which makes grants to economically-distressed communities to use for attracting new businesses to come to the area and encourage expansion of existing businesses that provide jobs. The EDA had been funded at $300 million per year, but this bill would up the funding level to $500 million per year.

H.R.477 - Back to Work Extension Act Extends a provision of the HIRE Act that exempts small businesses from paying the employer portion of the Social Security payroll tax for one year. The program would be extended until December 31, 2011. It expired on December 31, 2010.

H.R.870 - Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act This bill is designed to ensure full employment (i.e. 4% unemployment) after 10 years. It sets a series of unemployment targets that, if not met, would trigger the disbursement of funds from a "National Full Employment Trust Fund," which would be made up of revenue from a new financial transactions tax on financial corporations. The funds would be used for a direct jobs program that would immediately place unemployed people in public, non-profit and small business jobs in areas hardest hit by unemployment.

H.R.589 - Emergency Unemployment Compensation Expansion Act of 2011 Would add 14 weeks to the first tier of unemployment insurance benefits and make the new weeks available retroactively to all unemployed workers who have exhausted all of their benefits.

H.R.1380 - New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2011 Designed to promote a switchover from petroleum-based fuels to natural gas for transportation. Would provide a variety of tax breaks to trucking companies, vehicle owners, vehicle manufacturers and fueling stations to transition from gasoline and diesel to natural gas. The bill would provide approximately $5 billion in subsidies over a five year period, though an official budget estimate has yet to be conducted.

H.R.3013 - Pakistan Accountability Act

H.R.1148 - STOCK bill ("STOCK Act") Amends the Security and Exchange Act to make it illegal for any person to buy or sell stocks, securities, derivatives or other financial instruments while in possession of nonpublic information related to “pending or prospective” legislative matters if the information was obtained “knowingly from a Member or employee of Congress” or “by reason of being a Member or employee of Congress.” It would also amend the House Ethics manual to say that House employees shall not disclose nonpublic information if they have “reason to believe” that the information will be used to inform financial transaction decisions.

H.R.308 - Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act Bans the sale or possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines, defined in the bill as "a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition." Military personnel and police would be exempt from the ban.

H.R.140 - Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 This bill would eliminate birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Current U.S. law automatically recognizes any person born on American soil as a natural born citizen. Under the bill, only children with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen, a legal permanent resident, or an undocumented immigrant serving in the military would be considered citizens.

S.J.Res.20 Authorizes the President to continue the use of U.S. armed forces in Libya for up to one year, as required by the War Powers Resolution, but restricts the use of ground troops by placing a blockade against funding. It also declares that the action in Libya does constitute "hostilities" within the meaning of the War Powers Resolution.

H.R.43 Eliminates the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, a.k.a. the Green Card Lottery, which gives out 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. These visas would instead be given to foreign-born individuals who have obtained a graduate degree in science or engineering from a U.S. university and whose employment is sought by a U.S. employer.

H.R.97 - Free Industry Act Amends the Clear Air to state that greenhouse gases are not "air pollutants," and, therefore, can not be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

S.2105 - Cybersecurity Act of 2012

S.968 - PIPA Establishes a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be "dedicated to infringing activities." The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against the alleged infringer and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. In some cases, action could be taken to block sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves in court.

H.R.69 Eliminates funding for all noncommercial educational radio, including National Public Radio (NPR).

S.978 - Commercial Felony Streaming Act Makes unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty of up to 5 years in prison. Illegal streaming of copyrighted content is defined in the bill as an offense that "consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works" and has a total economic value, either to the copyright holder or the infringer, of at least $2,500.

S.74 - Internet Freedom, Broadband Promotion, and Consumer Protection Act of 2011 Would add net neutrality principles to the Communications Act in order to preserve openness and prevent discrimination on the internet. It would prohibit broadband internet service providers from interfering with users' ability to use or offer any legal content, applications or services. It would also make it illegals for an ISP to prioritize the traffic of any particular content provider or offer "tiered" access that provides faster speeds for users who pay mopper for the same service.

H.R.3261 - Stop Online Piracy Act This bill would establish a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be dedicated to copyright infringment. The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against any site they deem to have "only limited purpose or use other than infringement," and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. It would also make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty up to five years in prison. This bill combines two separate Senate bills -- S.968 and S.978 -- into one big House bill.

H.R.96 - Internet Freedom Act This bill would take regulatory authority over the internet away from the Federal Communications Commission and give it to Congress. The text reads: "The Federal Communications Commission shall not propose, promulgate, or issue any regulations regarding the Internet or IP-enabled services." It would allow the FCC to continue issuing regulations that are designed to assist law enforcement, ensure public safety, and protect national security.

H.R.402 - National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2011 Establishes a national infrastructure bank authorized to invest up to $25 billion in transportation, energy and communications infrastructure projects across the country. The bank would provide loans and grants for shovel-ready projects that would be leveraged with private investments, with all capital payments reinvested back into the bank.