Podcast appearances and mentions of joe heck

Joe Heck, CEO of Zip, joins me on the Tearsheet Podcast to discuss the evolution of alternative payment solutions in the US. Zip is a leading Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) company. Joe shares lessons from his 20 years of experience in consumer lending and fintech payment solutions. Heck brings insights from his previous leadership roles at Happy Money and TrueStage. Heck's background plays a role in his approach to financial services. Growing up in Flint, Michigan, he understands the challenges of paycheck-to-paycheck living. “There's a consumer base largely ignored by traditional financial systems,” Heck explains. “FICO doesn't serve them well, but they have a great ability to pay.” Zip focuses on providing financial flexibility to these consumers. It offers structured repayment plans that don't push them into revolving debt. According to Heck, “We win when the consumer wins. If they can't pay us back, our model doesn't work either.” The Big Ideas BNPL's Growth Potential in the US – With only 2% of payments currently in BNPL, there is significant room for expansion compared to markets like Europe and Australia. Financial Inclusion for Underserved Consumers – Zip is focusing on consumers who don't fit traditional credit models but have strong repayment potential. “We provide access when and where they need it,” says Heck. Strategic Partnerships Drive Accessibility – Integrations with Stripe and retailers like GameStop are making BNPL more available to consumers. A More Transparent Alternative to Credit Cards – Unlike credit cards that encourage revolving debt, BNPL provides structured, predictable payments. “We're not built in a way that traps consumers in debt,” Heck emphasizes. The Role of Cash Flow Management in BNPL's Future – Zip is investing in tools that help consumers manage unpredictable income streams, ensuring more repayment flexibility.

A bipartisan congressional commission released its recommendations to strengthen all forms of service to meet the country's needs just as COVID shut down the country in 2020. Now, five years later, Congress received an update on progress and unfinished business. Federal News Network's Terry Gerton spoke with the commission's chairman, Dr. Joe Heck, to get his take on how times have changed and why his recommendations still matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A bipartisan congressional commission released its recommendations to strengthen all forms of service to meet the country's needs just as COVID shut down the country in 2020. Now, five years later, Congress received an update on progress and unfinished business. Federal News Network's Terry Gerton spoke with the commission's chairman, Dr. Joe Heck, to get his take on how times have changed and why his recommendations still matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we talk about: Daniel has too many balls in the air Listener feedback (Thank you Queen Olivia, and Joe Heck!) NDI Switcher - Dave is TestFlighting ✈️ Server palooza! Daniel has been experimenting with a command palette feature Join us, while we're Waiting For Review, We are open for sponsorship! email us at contact@waitingforreview.com The Discord server is open to all, and you can contact us via our social links below. Enjoy the show, Dave ✨ und Daniel

In this episode, Tedd Huff and Colton Pond interview Joe Heck, the CEO of Happy Money. Happy Money focuses on personal lending and debt consolidation, aiming to help borrowers achieve their financial goals. They use personal loans to improve their financial situations. Joe shares insights on Happy Money's mission and their unique approach to lending, focusing on cash flow underwriting and differentiation in the market.Joe also discusses the importance of alternative data and the impact of credit unions as strategic partners. Happy Money partners with credit unions to deliver a member-centric experience, emphasizing the shift from transactional lending to building relationships with consumers. He highlights the role of technology in providing personalized experiences and the need for business agility.Joe shares his vision for the future of financing, including the potential of AI. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of optimizing infrastructure and focusing on the consumer to achieve Happy Money's mission of designing a happier way of lending..Five essential items you will take away. 1️⃣ Empowering Borrowers: Happy Money is dedicated to turning borrowers into savers by consolidating credit card debt into lower interest rate personal loans.2️⃣ Partnerships with Credit Unions: The company's strategic partnerships with credit unions provide a competitive edge and align the interests of consumers and financial institutions.3️⃣ Importance of Technology: Investing in technology and personalized experiences is crucial for delivering a member-centric experience in the lending industry.4️⃣ Future of Financing: Joe Heck discusses the potential of leveraging AI to personalize and simplify the customer experience in the future of financing.5️⃣ Optimizing Infrastructure: The importance of optimizing infrastructure to focus on customer-centric solutions and improve the overall lending experience.Key Highlights:Happy Money's Mission: Focus on helping borrowers become savers through personal lending and debt consolidation.Insights from the CEO of Happy Money, Joe Heck: Company's journey and approach to lending.Innovative Lending Approach: Utilizing cash flow underwriting and alternative data to personalize lending decisions.Partnerships with Credit Unions: Strategic alliances with credit unions to offer a member-centric experience and expand network partnerships.Empowering Borrowers: Transitioning from transactional lending to building ongoing relationships with borrowers.Investment in Technology: Leveraging technology to drive personalized experiences and improve financial well-being.Future of Financing: Exploring the potential of AI in personalizing and simplifying the customer experience.Optimizing Infrastructure: Emphasizing the importance of infrastructure optimization for customer-centric solutions.Empowerment and Financial Education: Highlighting the role of Happy Money in empowering consumers with knowledge and tools for better financial decisions.Member Success Stories: Discussing the impact of Happy Money's approach on the lives of over 300,000 members and their journey to financial freedom.Watch on YoutubeLinks:Happy MoneyWebsite: https://happymoney.com/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happy-money/Fintech Confidential YouTube: https://fintechconfidential.com/watch Podcast: https://fintechconfidential.com/listen...

This is a show about Happy Money.Of course you have to smile at that.You'll smile more knowing it's the name of a company that is in the business of helping consumers with personal loans that in turn are issued by participating credit unions and of course the consumer is memberized along the way.So it's also a member acquisition tool.The key Happy Money loan is the Payoff Loan - $5000 to $40,000 - that helps a consumer pay off credit cards. Rates are as low as 12.45%.Credit unions that work with Happy Money include Michigan State Federal Credit Union, Technology Credit Union, and Alliant Credit Union.Happy Money investors include a subsidiary of TruStage, formerly known as CUNA Mutual.On the show to tell all about Happy Money is CEO Joe Heck, a longtime CUNA Mutual employee who rose to vice president, business transformation.Earlier in his career he was a manager at CASE Credit Union in Michigan.Heck is an authentic credit union guy - if we used video you'd see him in a hoodie! - and he believes in the credit union mission and the credit union difference.  He also sincerely believes Happy Money has a significant role to play in helping credit unions live up to their mission.Listen up.Listen up.Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com  And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.  Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

This month, Joe Heck joins the show to talk about the origins of Xcoders on the eve of our 16th anniversary, and we dive a bit into the reactive world of Combine! Questions, comments, or topic requests? Get in touch at info@seattlexcoders.org Links: Joe Heck Using Combine – Joe’s research & book Host: Jared Sorge Xcoders Links: Website Meetup

It has been 50 years since the last Americans were drafted, but the nation continues to require men ages 18 to 26 to register with the Selective Service, an insurance policy in case the nation faces and unforeseen security crisis requiring mass mobilization. This spring, a congressionally appointed commission completed a multi-year study of military and national service that addressed, among other questions, whether America should still have a draft system, and whether women should be required to register for the draft for the first time in history. To talk about all that, we're joined by Dr. Joe Heck, an Army Reserve brigadier general and the chairman of the National Commission on Military, National and Public service. Among the questions the commission tackled: whether, for the first time in history, women should be required to register for a possible draft. Learn much more about the commission's findings and the draft at Military.com.

Episode 41: Inspiring Americans to Serve, ft. Congressman Joe Heck by FedScoop Radio

As we've reported, a diverse group of associations has urged Congress to put federal hiring reforms into the 2021 National Defense Authorization bill. Earlier we heard from former deputy Defense secretary Bob Work, representing the artificial intelligence technology community. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin also heard from the chairman of the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, former congressman Joe Heck.

After nearly three years of work, the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service last week released a long list of recommendations for all three areas of service. Commission Chairman Doctor Joe Heck joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with highlights of particular interest to the federal workforce, .

For a year, the National Commission on Military National and Public Service has been conducting a listening tour hearing from people about ways to boost interest and participation in many forms of public service. Now the comment period is about to end. With what comes next, commission chairman and former congressman Joe Heck.

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For about a year the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service has been studying what inspires Americans around the country join the military and civil services. On Wednesday, the commission issued its report, along with recommendations to the president and Congress for creating a greater "ethos" of public service. Commission Chairman Joe Heck joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk about it. He is an emergency physician, a reserve Army brigadier general, a deputy staff surgeon in the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former member of Congress.

Following the 2018 midterm elections, HPR Associate Managing Editor Jacob Link sits down with Joe Heck, former Republican congressman from Nevada, and Amy Dacey, former CEO of the Democratic National Committee and former executive director of EMILY'S List, to discuss the election outcomes and what they mean for the future of America.

Following the 2018 midterm elections, HPR Associate Managing Editor Jacob Link sits down with Joe Heck, former Republican congressman from Nevada, and Amy Dacey, former CEO of the Democratic National Committee and former executive director of EMILY’S List, to discuss the election outcomes and what they mean for the future of America.

The National Commission on Military, National and Public Service launched its two-year study, which will gather public feedback on the military's selection service and other civilian volunteer programs. Commissioners hope these conversations will renew the public's interest in serving in national service.

Great Timothy's whiskers! Faced with a ballot of bipartisan baloney, it looks like our heroes, Chuck and Davey Koch, have decided to sit out the presidential race! But that won't stop the Koch Brothers Mystery Show! We'll be bringing you special weekly episodes to keep you up-to-date on the election. Plus: an in-depth look at how our boy wonders the Koch Brothers are manipulating key swing states to keep things profitably hunky-dory. Hang on to your hats, Koch fiends! Written By and Starring: Gary Pascal, Brad Einstein, Charles Pettitt, Shannon Noll, Libby Schreiner, Tom Fell, and Sean Sullivan Music and Sound Design by: Chris Yearwood Want Even More Koch? We bet you do! Be sure to subscribe to and review The Koch Brothers Mystery Show on iTunes. Have a suggestion for a topic we should cover? Tweet at us @KochBrosMystery, or contact us on Facebook at facebook.com/kochbrothersmysteryshow. You can also find episodes, extras, and news at kochbrothersmysteryshow.com. Self-promotion awayyyy!

WASHINGTON, DC – With the general election just over four months away, The Ripon Society held a breakfast discussion with three Members of the U.S. House of Representatives who are running for the U.S. Senate. The Members were U.S. Rep. Joe Heck (NV-3), U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany (LA-3), and U.S. Rep. Todd Young (IN-9), who kicked off the discussion by talking about his impressive victory in the Indiana primary on May 3rd, the challenges facing the people of his home state, and some of the issues that will be important in the upcoming election.

Lots of new laws! Hear all about the final version of fast track and other trade related dingleberries, new measures to combat human trafficking, and new benefits for veterans. In this episode, you'll also learn about the bills that passed at least one branch of Congress in May, which include a poisonous scientific research funding bill, an anti-abortion bill, lots of bills to funnel taxpayer money into private pockets, bills that benefit veterans' families, and more. After the break, get the details for the Chicago and Miami meet-ups, an update on the Congressional Dish Arms Race, and hear a indisputable argument for why train travel is superior to plane travel. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Meet Up Times & Locations Chicago: Wednesday, August 5th 6:30pm: Sweetwater Tavern & Grille 225 Michigan Ave Chicago, IL 60601 (312) 698-7111 Co-Hosted by Kevin and Loren, hosts of Political Discontent Radio Miami: Tuesday, August 18th 7pm: Emerge Miami Meeting 6pm: Meet and Greet 7pm: Meeting begins Sweat Records 5505 NE 2nd Ave. Miami, FL 33137 (786) 693-9309 8:30pm: Elwoods Gastro Pub 188 NE 3rd Avenue Miami, FL 33132 (305) 358-5222 Laws H.R. 2146: Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act Became the vehicle for Trade Promotion Authority to become law Allows Federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, and air traffic controllers with 20 years experience to avoid a 10% tax penalty if they withdraw from their retirement plans after age 50, instead of 59.5 years old. The effects of this on the budget will not be counted. Passed 407-5 Sponsored by Rep. David Reichert of Washington 43 pages Did Your Rep & Senators Vote for Fast Track? Check your Senators' Votes on H.R. 1314 Check your Representative's Vote on H.R. 2146 H.R. 1295: Trade Preferences Extension Act Title I: Extension of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Background Original African Growth and Opportunity Act was signed into law by President Clinton in 2000. Allows certain products from some African countries to be imported tax-free. Oil accounted for 68% of these imports in 2014; "despite remaining the top U.S. import under AGOA, U.S. oil imports from the region have fallen by 80% or nearly $40 billion since 2011." Clothes and vehicles from South Africa are the other main products imported tax-free under this law The law was going to expire on September 30, 2015. The assistance is intended to "encourage governments to Liberalize trade policy Harmonize laws and regulations with WTO membership commitments Engage in financial and fiscal restructuring Promote greater agribusiness linkages. Reauthorization Highlights Extends the AGOA until September 30, 2025 Eliminates the President's ability to terminate an African country's eligibility for the program without notifying Congress and the country 60 days before. Creates an annual public comment period regarding whether the African countries are meeting their eligibility requirements. Increases the number of people employed full time to make sure African food exports meet U.S. food safety standards from 20 to 30. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that extending this program will cost us $2.8 billion in lost tax revenue by 2025 Title II: Extension of Generalized System of Preferences Background A bigger program for allowing products to be imported tax-free into the United States, which was first created in 1974. President Obama terminated Russia's status as a Generalized System of Preferences country in October 2014, after the invasion of Crimea. Extension Highlights Extends the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program until December, 2017. Backdates the effective date to July 31, 2013, when the program expired. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this extension will cost us over $2.5 billion in lost tax revenue. Limits the types of cotton that are eligible for tax-free import Makes some luggage and travel products eligible for tax-free import Title III: Extension of preferential duty treatment program for Haiti Extends tax-free import status for products from Haiti until December 19, 2025. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this will cost us $520 million in lost tax revenue Title IV: Extension of trade adjustment assistance Extends trade adjustment assistance until June 30, 2021 Specifically mentions farmers. Brings back a tax credit for health insurance for workers who lose their jobs due to trade agreements or due to failed pension plans until the end of 2019, which are higher than the subsidies we get for health insurance on the ObamaCare exchange websites. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this will cost us $2.8 billion, with the most money needed from 2017 to 2021. Title VI: Tariff classification of recreational performance outerwear Contains a modified version of the Affordable Footwear Act, which reduces tariffs on some athletic footwear. Contains part of the OUTDOORS Act, which was introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington and Senator Kelly Ayote of New Hampshire, which lowers or eliminates tariffs that average 14% for "recreational performance outerwear" Washington is home to headquarters of REI, Amazon, Nordstrom, Brooks Sports, and Eddie Bauer. New Hampshire is home to the headquarters of Timberland The American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Outdoor Industry Association, Eastern Mountain Sports, Kamik Boots, NEMO Equipment, and New Balance, and the Washington Council on International Trade have all voiced support for this language, with the Washington Council on International Trade saying it's because it "would save consumers money while improving profits for our retailers and apparel companies that do their manufacturing overseas". The Outdoor Industry Association spent a record $360,000 lobbying Congress on the US OUTDOOR ACT and the Affordable Footwear Act in 2014. Title VI: Offsets Extends customs charges for some imports from September 30, 2024 to July 7, 2025 and then increases the fees for two and a half months in the Summer 2025, after the expiration. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this will cause the revenue from those fees to spike from a little under a billion in 2024, to $4.6 billion in 2025. This is the biggest single source of money that will pay for this law. Increases taxes on corporations that make more than $1 billion in 2019 by 8% for the months of July, August, or September of 2020. The corporation's next payment will then be reduced by the same amount. On the Congressional Budget Office estimate, this makes it seem as though there is much more revenue for the 2015-2020 period than there actually is. If the numbers weren't cooked like this, the report would show an additional $5.7 billion budget deficit from 2015-2020. Beginning in 2016, the law forbids college education tax credits from students who don't receive an accounting "statement" from their school. CBO estimates this will save almost half a billion dollars. Increases the fines for failing to file tax returns on time or including incorrect information on a return, for example from $100 to $250 and raises the caps on these kinds of fees, effective in fiscal year 2016. CBO estimates this will bring in an additional $136 million by 2025. Disqualifies people who choose to exclude foreign earned income from their tax returns from claiming the child tax credit, effective this year. CBO estimates this will save $293 million by 2025. Somehow changes the way Medicare pays for dialysis services in a way that will cut direct spending by $250 million. Passed the Senate 97-1 and the House of Representatives 286-138 Sponsored by Rep. George Holding of North Carolina 58 pages S. 178: Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act Through September 30, 2019, a person convicted of a human trafficking related offense will have to pay an extra $5,000 fine. The money will go to a "Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund, controlled by the Attorney General. The money will be used for law enforcement, grants to States, tribes, local government and non-profit NGO's, and local children's advocacy centers. Authorizes grant money specifically for victims of child pornography. Expands the property that can been seized by the government from people convicted of human trafficking crimes. Expands the "range of conduct punished as sex trafficking." "Section 108: Reducing demand for sex trafficking" adds "patronized, or solicited" to the list of of things punishable by a fine and at least 10 years in prison. The crime: "Whoever knowingly" in the United States "recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, patronizes, or solicits" anything of value that arises out of forcing someone under 18 to "engage in a commercial sex act", which means "any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person." Gives crime victims the right to be informed of any plea bargains or deferred prosecution agreements. Mandates that officers in anti-human trafficking programs operated by the Justice Department will have training on methods for investigating and prosecuting human traffickers and for getting proper physical and mental health care for the victims. Mandates that Federal prosecutors request restitution for the victims whether or not the victims request it. Creates an advisory council made up of human trafficking victims to analyze human trafficking laws every year until September 30, 2020. The members will not be paid except for travel reimbursement and per diem allowances. Requires missing children reports to include a recent photo Requires audits of human trafficking grants Prohibits the Attorney General from giving a grant to a nonprofit that has offshore tax havens. Includes the SAVE Act which makes advertising the services of prostitutes who are under 18 or are forced into prostitution punishable by ten years in prison. Creates a website for accessing victims' services Expands the statute of limitations on civil actions by child trafficking survivors to 10 years after they turn 18. Creates a "cyber crimes center" within the Customs and Immigration section of the Department of Homeland Security to "provide investigative assistance, training, and equipment to support United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement's domestic and international investigations of cyber-related crimes." The cyber crimes center will have a "Child Exploitation Investigations Unit" in it. The cyber crimes center will have a "Computer Forensics Unit" which will train and support Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and help "Federal, State, local, tribal, military, and foreign law enforcement agency personnel engaged in the investigation of crimes" The cyber crimes center will have a "Cyber Crimes Unit" , which will "enhance" Immigration and Customs ability to "combat criminal enterprises operating on or through the Internet, with specific focus in the areas of cyber economic crime, digital theft of intellectual property, illicit e-e-commerce (including hidden marketplaces), Internet- facilitated proliferation of arms and strategic technology, and cyber enable smuggling and money laundering" and will also help "Federal, State, local, tribal, military, and foreign law enforcement agency personnel engaged in the investigation of crimes" The cyber crimes center will be allowed to coordinate with the Defense Department to hire war veterans. Temporarily increases by 10% the amount of money a State can get from Federal grants if the State has a law that allows the mother of a child to eliminate the parental rights of her rapist and authorizes $5 million for the increases (only 10 states currently have such laws). Adds people convicted in the military justice system to the National Sex Offender Registry. Creates a hotline for sex trafficking victims to speak with service providers starting in 2017. Makes sex trafficking victims automatically eligible for the jobs corps. Allows human trafficking survivors to move to vacate any arrest or conviction records for crimes that they committed as a direct result of human trafficking. Passed the Senate 99-0 and the House 420-3 Sponsored by Senator John Cornyn of Texas 41 pages S. 802: Girls Count Act Authorizes the Secretary of State and Administrator of USAID to coordinate with the World Bank, UN nations agencies and "relevant organizations" to "enact, implement, and enforce laws" in other countries to register births of baby girls. Sunsets in June 2020. Passed the House and the Senate by voice vote Sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida 3 pages H.R. 2252: Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act Clarifies the effective date of a new overtime system for border patrol agents, which will effectively pay them less, as January 1, 2016. Passed the House of Representatives and the Senate by voice votes Sponsored by Rep Will Hurd of Texas 1 page H.R. 2496: Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act Authorizes and additional $900 million for a Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center in Denver, CO. Passed the House and the Senate by voice votes Sponsored by Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado 2 pages H.R. 606: Don't Tax Our Fallen Public Safety Heroes Act Excludes money paid to the families of law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty from counting as taxable income. Passed the House of Representatives 413-0 and the Senate by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota 1 page H.R. 1191: Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act Requires the President to give Congress any agreements with Iran within 5 days of reaching the agreement, along with a report by the Secretary of State on the effectiveness of the agreement. Requires the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee to hold hearings on the agreement within 30 days - 60 days if it would interfere with their August vacation. Prohibits the President from altering sanctions on Iran during the Congressional review period. Prohibits the President from altering sanctions on Iran if a joint resolution of disapproval passes both the House and the Senate for 12 days after passage. If the President vetoes the joint resolution of disapproval, the law prohibits him from altering Iran's sanctions within 10 days of the veto. Allows the agreement to go into effect if Congress does nothing Creates an expedited process for Congress to bring back the sanctions if Iran violates the agreement. Passed the Senate 98-1 and the House of Representatives 400-25. Sponsored by Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania 12 pages H.R. 2353: Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015 Clean extension of Federal transportation programs until July 31, 2015. Passed the House of Representatives 387-35 and the Senate by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Bill Schuster of Pennsylvania 9 pages H.R. 91: Veteran's I.D. Card Act Allows veterans who have honorably completed their service but who didn't "retire" or receive a medically-related discharge to request and pay for an ID card proving their veteran status. The fee for the card will be reassessed every five years. The cards would be available 60 days after the bill would be signed into law. Final version passed the Senate by a voice vote and the House of Representatives 411-0 Sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan 3 pages Bills H.R. 1806: America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015 Funds the National Science Foundation, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Institute f Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy - Science, the Department of Energy - Applied Research and Development, and the Department of Energy - Technology Transfer. Contains a program that transfers taxpayer funded research to manufacturers in the U.S. - including the legal rights to the new inventions - as long as the company pays for 50%+ of the upgrades to their systems. Continues to invest tax money in research for coal, oil, and natural gas It would extend the life of current nuclear power plants instead of design new ones Creates a "nuclear energy enabling technologies program" which, in part, develops "small modular reactors". According to the Department of Energy, small modular reactors are factory-made mini-nuclear power plants that can be shipped to places that don't have the infrastructure or money for large nuclear power plants. The idea is to create these for "U.S. companies" to sell around the world. So far, none of these have been designed, licensed, or constructed and DOE wants them deployed within the next decade. Eliminates research into hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicle technology and on-site renewable energy generation for buildings. Eliminates research into fish friendly turbines for hydropower Allows "energy efficiency" money to be used for research into renewable power combined with any fossil fuel (currently only wind-coal combo allowed). Makes the Secretary perform extra market analysis for renewable energy projects. Eliminates a program for taxpayer funded installation of solar and other renewable power on State or local government buildings. Eliminates the objective of "Improving United States energy security" from energy research, prohibits research money from being used for Fossil Energy Environmental Restoration, limits the amount of fossil fuel research money that can be used in universities, and prohibits government research into fossil fuels from being used for regulatory assessments by the government. Invests more taxpayer money in coal energy research. Passed the House of Representatives 217-205 President Obama would veto the bill. The veto threat is because the bill funds much less than requested for many areas of research; for example, it provides less than half of what was requested for clean energy research and grid modernizations. Sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas 203 pages H.R. 1735: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 Passed the House 269-151 and the Senate (with changes) 71-25 Sponsored by Rep. Mac Thorneberry of Texas 994 pages S. 136: Gold Star Fathers Act Extends hiring advantages for Federal jobs to fathers of people killed in military service (currently, it's only available to mothers). Passed the Senate by voice vote Sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon 3 pages H.R. 1732: Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 Forces the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to withdraw a proposed rule that would expand protection of waterways in the United States. Orders a new proposed rule to be crafted using studies - including an economic impact study - hand picked by the bill authors. Forces the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA to consult with "public and private stakeholders" that would be effected by the rule Prohibits any additional money for the extra work. Prohibits the Federal government's classification of waterways from voiding State permits for two years. Passed the House of Representatives 261-155 President Obama would veto the bill. Sponsored by Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, who has taken almost $400,000 from the Oil and Gas industry, with over half of that for the most recent election. 13 pages H.R. 723: Fallen Heroes Flag Act of 2015 An immediate family member of a deceased fire fighter, law enforcement officer, member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew who died in the line of duty can request and be sent a Capitol-flown flag free of charge by their Congressional Representative. Caps the amount to be spent on this at $30,000 per year. Passed the House of Representatives by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Peter King of New York 4 pages H.R. 36: Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Makes it illegal for someone to perform an abortion unless: The fetus is 19 weeks or younger The abortion is performed in a way that gives the fetus the best opportunity to survive Exceptions: If the mother's life is in danger due to a physical illness or injury Incest that has been reported to the government The pregnancy is the result of a rape The mother must have gotten rape counseling or medical treatment for the rape, which must be documented in the mother's medical file The rape counseling or report can not be provided by a non-hospital facility that performs abortions. The penalty for performing an abortion illegally can be a fine and 5 years in prison The mother or parents of the mother (if she is a minor) can seek civil damages from the doctor who performed her abortion illegally The mother can not be prosecuted Passed the House of Representatives 242-184 President Obama would veto the bill Sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona 24 pages H.R. 2297: Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 Orders the Secretary of State to report to Congress "the activities of all satellite, broadcast, Internet, or other providers that knowingly provide material support to al-Manar TV and any affiliates" and the status of sanctions against them as ordered by President W. Bush on September 23, 2001. Prohibits financial institutions that process transactions for Hezbollah from opening or maintaining accounts in the United States. Penalties for facilitating Hezbollah transactions will be the greater of $250,000 or twice the transaction amount in addition to a criminal penalty of up to $1 million and up to 20 years in prison. This can be waived in 180 day intervals if the Treasury Secretary says it's in the "national security interests of the United States" These rules will not apply to intelligence activities Passed by 423-0 Sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce of California 20 pages H.R. 474: Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2015 Reauthorized a program for homeless veterans for five years. Clarifies that veterans being released from prison are eligible for benefits. Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio 3 pages H.R. 1038: Ensuring VA Employee Accountability Act Forces the Department of Veterans Affairs to keep a copy of all official reprimands or admonishments in the employee's permanent record as long as they work at the Department of Veteran's Affairs. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Ryan Costello 3 pages H.R. 1313: Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Relief Act Allows the business that was owned by a disabled veteran to keep it's veteran perks if the spouse takes over the business for three years, if the veterans did not die as a result of a service related disability (if the veteran did die of service related injuries, the spouse can keep the benefits for 10 years or until she remarries). Passed the House of Representatives 403-0 Sponsored by Rep. Jerry McNerney 3 pages H.R. 1382: BRAVE Act Authorizes the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs to give preferential treatment to companies that hire veterans in their choice in awarding procurement contracts. A company that lies about the veteran status of its employees will be prohibited from contracting with the Department of Veteran's Affairs for five years. Passed the House of Representatives 404-0 Sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Rice 3 pages H.R. 1816: Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2015 Excludes monthly pension payments from counting as income for veterans who become permanently or totally disabled from non-service related injuries. Limits the total amount of bonus money allowed to be issued to employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada 3 pages H.R. 874: American Super Computing Leadership Act Broadens the definition of "institution of higher learning" to include organizations that exist to benefit institutions of higher education Orders the Department of Energy to partner with universities, National Laboratories, and industry. Eliminates the Department of Energy's High End Software Development Center and replaces it with a partnerships with universities, National Laboratories, and industry to do research. Part of this program will include outreach to domestic industries, including manufacturing so they can use the technology developed. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Randy Hultgren of Illinois 8 pages H.R. 1162: Science Prize Competitions Act Allows private for-profit entities to be given grants and contract so administer government prize competitions. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Donald Beyer of Virginia 6 pages H.R. 1119: Research and Development Efficiency Act Creates a working group to make recommendations on how to streamline Federal regulations and to "minimize the regulatory burden" on universities performing federally funded research. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia 4 pages H.R. 1156: International Science and Technology Cooperation Act of 2015 Creates a working group to coordinate international science and technology cooperation, designed in part to "support United States foreign policy goals". Will be co-chaired by officials from the Office of Science and Technology and the Department of State. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Daniel Lipinski of Illinois 4 pages H.R. 1561: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2015 Creates a program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to improving weather knowledge, understand how the public reacts to warnings, and develop radar and other weather forecasting technologies. At least 30%) of the money for the program will go to universities, private entities, and NGO's to further their research. Creates a tornado warning improvement program with the goal of predicting tornadoes more than an hour in advance. No budget listed. Creates a Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program with the goal of extending hurricane forecasts. No budget listed. Allows the government to pay commercial providers up to $9 million for weather data Creates a pilot contract which makes NOAA contract with a private sector entity for weather data by October 1, 2016. Authorizes (but doesn't appropriate) about $100 million per year through 2017. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma 25 pages H.R. 1158: Department of Energy Laboratory Modernization and Technology Transfer Act of 2015 Orders an assessment and report on the Department of Energy's ability to host and oversee "privately funded fusion and non-light water reactor prototypes and related demonstration facilities at Department-owned sites" Orders the Energy Department to carry out a pilot program designed to "commercialize" research at National Laboratories. Projects can not directly compete with the private sector. Extends the pilot program until October 31, 2017. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Randy Hultgren of Illinois 16 pages H.R. 880: American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2015 Makes permanent a corporate tax credit for research and development the expired at the end of 2014 The effects of this on the budget will not be counted The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates this would increase the Federal deficits by $182 billion in the next ten years. President Obama would veto the bill. Passed the House of Representatives 274-145 President Obama would veto the bill. Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas 9 pages Hearings Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing: "Border Security: Examining the Implications of S. 1691, the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act of 2013", June 9, 2014. House Committee on Science, Space and Techonology Markup Hearing: "H.R. 1806, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015", April 22, 2015 Additional Information Federation of American Scientists: Status of World Nuclear Forces Federaation of American Scientists/Washington and Lee University Study: The Future of Nuclear Power in the United States U.S. Department of Transportation Factsheet: Deficient Bridges by States and Highway System: Current Data Associated Press Article: House votes to provide for highway aid, plug hole in veterans' health care budget by Joan Lowy, July 29, 2015 Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) Fast Track by Terry Quiett Band On the Road Again by Willie Nelson

Medicare, cybersecurity, favors for banks, mortgages, IRS bullying, a tax cut for the rich, and a couple of good ideas are highlighted from the law and bills that passed Congress in April. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Laws H.R. 2: Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR): Enacted in 1997, the SGR paid doctors for Medicare patients based on the growth in gross domestic product (GDP). If Medicare costs increased more than GDP, doctors payments were cut across the board. According to the American College of Physicians, this formula for payment has meant that the Medicare payment rate to doctors is essentially the same as it was in 2001 and cuts have been postponed so many times that doctors' payments would have been cut by 21% if this bill was not signed into law by April 1. This new law: Repeals the Sustainable Growth Rate formula for Medicare payments to doctors. Increases payments to doctors by 0.5% through 2019 while the payment rate transitions away from a pay-per-service model. The new system will be based on scores assessed by a "Merit-based Incentive Payment System" which will be created by the Secretary of Health and Human Services which will go into effect on January 1, 2019. A list of "quality measures" will be posted every November and doctors can choose which one's will be used in their performance assessments. Doctors will be rated and paid based on a performance score from 0 to 100, which will take improvement into account starting in the second year of the program. The GAO will report on the effectiveness of the system by October 1, 2021. An advisory committee will be created to propose alternative payment models, which will be lump sum payments to group practices and medical homes. Sets a goal for Medicare records to be electronic nation-wide by December 31, 2018. Extends a bunch of existing Medicare programs, including the Children's Health Insurance Program (which covers low income kids whose parents make too much for Medicaid) for two years. Doubles the length of Medicare administrator contracts from five to ten years. Expands nationally a prior authorization requirement for "repetitive scheduled non-emergent ambulance transport" Prohibits the printing of social security numbers on Medicare cards Pays for the new system by... Denying access to policies with no out of pocket costs to people who enter Medicare after January 1, 2020. For all future beneficiaries, they will have to pay at least $147 per year (the cost of the Medicare Part B deductible). Increasing the premiums for relatively high income individuals. People who have a gross income between $133,501 and $160,000 ($267,000 and $320,000 for a couple) will pay a 65% premium instead of 50%, and people above that will pay an 80% premium rate. This would increase with inflation beginning in 2020. Has a huge increase in the levy that the Treasury Department can impose on tax delinquent service providers, increasing it from 30% to 100%, effective on October 16, 2015. Will have auditors distribute information about improper payments to help reduce the number of them. Creates a paper-free option for Medicare notices, saving mail fees. The effect this bill will have on the budget will not be counted. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates this bill will increase the budget deficit by $141 billion. Passed 392-37 in the House and 92-8 in the Senate Sponsored by Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas 95 pages Bills H.R. 1731: National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 For reference, here's the text as of March 2015 of the Homeland Security Act, which is amended by this bill. This bill: Adds "private entities" to the list of groups that will be part of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, which coordinates information sharing between the Federal government and other entities. Adds new groups to the list of who will be included in the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center who will coordinate with all sizes of businesses. Expands the type of information that the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center will share between the Federal government, local governments, and private sector. Authorizes the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to share information internationally. Requires the government and businesses to use existing technology to "rapidly advance" implementation of "automated mechanisms" for sharing between the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center and Federal agencies. Participation by non-Federal entities will be voluntary. Agreements that exist before this bill is signed into law will be deemed compliant with this law. All participating entities need to take "reasonable efforts to remove information that can be used to identity specific persons". There's no listed punishments if they don't. The Under Secretary for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection will create policies for governing the use of information shared with the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center 180 days AFTER the bill becomes law. He/she will also be responsible for creating "sanctions" for government employees who disregard his/her privacy policies. Private entities that share information will have immunity from lawsuits, if they share information according to this law. If the Federal government breaks this law, it will have to pay the person actual damages or $1,000, whichever is higher, plus attorneys fees. There is a two year statute of limitations. This law will trump state laws that limit information sharing. The law would sunset 7 years after enactment. Passed 355-63 in the House Sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas 60 pages H.R. 1560: Protecting Cyber Networks Act Contains the text of H.R. 1731: National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act Within 90 days of enactment, the Director of National Intelligence must develop procedures for sharing classified "cyber threat indicators" with "non-Federal entities" Allows cybersecurity monitoring of government systems to be privatized Allows "non-Federal entities" to share information to with anyone other than the Defense Department. The entity sharing information must "take reasonable efforts" to remove personally identifiable information on people "not directly related" to the cybersecurity threat. The President will develop polices governing what happens to information received by the Federal Government, within 90 days of the bill becoming law. The Attorney General will create policies relating to privacy and civil liberties, within 90 days of the bill becoming law. A new branch, with 50 or less employees, will be created within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence called the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, which will "serve as the primary organization within the Federal Government for analyzing and integrating all intelligence possessed or acquired by the United States pertaining to cyber threats." Information shared with the government is exempt from public disclosure. Information given to the government "shall not be subject to a rule of any Federal department or agency or any judicial doctrine regarding ex parte communications with a decision-making official." The government can keep and use information given to it to investigate, prosecute, prevent or mitigate a threat of "death or serious bodily harm or an offense arising out of such a threat" and to investigate, prosecute, prevent or mitigate a threat to a minor. The information can also be used to prevent, investigation, disrupt, or prosecute fraud, unauthorized access to computers and transmission of information taken from it, "serious violent felonies" including murder, manslaughter, assault, sexual abuse, kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, extortion, firearms use, firearms possession, or attempt to commit any of these crimes, espionage including photographing or sketching defense installations, and theft of trade secrets. Passed 307-116 in the House Sponsored by Rep. Devin Nunes of California 121 pages H.R. 650: Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2015 Changes the definition of "Mortgage originator" to exclude mobile home retailers who take mortgage loan applications, negotiate loans, or advise consumers on loan terms (including rates, fees, and other costs) This exempts mobile home dealers from licensing, registry, a law prohibiting payment based on the terms of the loan, regulations prohibiting steering customers towards loans they can't repay or with excessive fees, regulations prohibiting mischaracterizing a customer's credit history, regulations prohibiting the mischaracterization of the appraised value of the home, or steering a customer towards a loan that's more expensive than others that they qualify for. Increases the interest banks can charge people buying a home for under $75,000 without the loan being labeled as "high-cost", which subjects the loans to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations. The regulations this would exempt the loans from: Ban balloon payments, which is an oversized payment due at the end of a mortgage Prohibit banks from charging prepayment penalties and fees Restrict late fees to four percent of the payment that is past due Bans fees for loan modification Require banks make sure the loan can be repaid before offering it Prohibit banks from recommending that a customer default on a loan Require that banks receive a confirmation that the customer has received homeownership counseling before they accept a high-cost mortgage. Would allow banks to charge $3,000 or 5% in fees for loans under $75,000, whichever is greater. Current law says banks can charge 5% for loans over $20,000, so the $3,000 fee option would hit the smaller loans the hardest. Passed the House 263-162. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina was the only Republican no vote. The bill would be vetoed by President Obama. Sponsored by Rep. Stephen Fincher of Tennessee He took $15,150 from Clayton Homes for the 2014 election, his #4 donor and Clayton Home's #1 recipient of funds. Jeb Hensarling, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee was Clayton Homes #2 recipient in 2014, giving him $8,750. 4 pages H.R. 685: Mortgage Choice Act of 2015 By changing the definition of what charges count as "points and fees", this bill... Reverses a Dodd-Frank requirement that charges for title insurance be counted as points and fees if they're paid to an affiliate of the bank/creditor that issued the loan. Currently, points and fees can not be greater than 3% of the loan amount, which include fees charged by affiliated settlement providers. Every thing that gets exempted from counting as "points and fees" therefore becomes additional charges the lender is allowed to tack on to a mortgage. Exempts money held in escrow for insurance from being considered points and fees, which exempt insurance charges from the fee caps. The change in definition allows more fees to be charged to mortgages, while keeping those mortgages from being classified as "high-cost" and being subject to greater restrictions. This is a zombie bill from the 113th Congress; it passed by voice vote on June 9, 2014. Passed the House 286-140. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina was the only Republican no vote. Sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan His top three contributing industries are - in this order - Insurance ($273,265), Real Estate ($218,175), and Commercial Banks ($193,000). 4 pages H.R. 299: Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act of 2015 Federal Home Loan Banks are privately owned cooperatives, funded by the global credit market, which provide money to local banks. There are twelve of them around the country and they are owned by the member banks. Most local banks are members of least one Federal Home Loan Bank. Allows privately insured credit unions to become members of Federal Home Loan Banks if they are FDIC eligible or are certified by the State. If the State doesn't get to it in under 6 months, the application is deemed approved. Zombie bill from the 113th Congress Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio His top three contributing industries over the course of his four year Congressional career have been Insurance ($898,858), Commercial Banks ($534,622), and Securities and Investment ($502,098). 6 pages H.R. 1259: Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act Orders the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to create an application process for people or companies to have their location designated as "rural" This would allow residents to become eligible for certain mortgages and exempt lenders from regulations intended for urban areas, according to Phil Hall of National Mortgage Professional Magazine Sunsets after 2 years. Zombie bill from the 113th Congress Passed the House 401-1. Nydia Valazquez of New York was the only no vote. Sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky He has taken $333,800 from the Securities & Investment industry during his 3 years in Congress. 4 pages H.R. 1195: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Advisory Boards Act Creates paid advisory boards for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made up of bankers Places limits on funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Passed the House 235-183, with 4 Democrat Ayes and 5 Republican Nays President Obama would veto the bill Sponsored by Rep. Robert Pittenger of North Carolina His #4 and #5 contributing industries are Securities & Investment and Commercial Banks; he's taken a combined $189,450 during his 3 years in Congress 7 pages H.R. 1314: Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act Became the vehicle for Trade Promotion Authority in the Senate Creates an appeal process for organizations that are denied tax-exempt status Would apply to decisions made on or after May 19, 2014. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania 4 pages H.R. 1026: Taxpayer Knowledge of IRS Investigations Act Gives the Treasury Secretary the option of telling organizations if they are investigating a claim of unauthorized information disclosure by a government, if the investigation substantiated their claim, and if any action, including prosecution, is planned. Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania 3 pages H.R. 709: Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act Allows the IRS to fire employees who steer and audit for a political purpose or for personal gain. Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. James Renacci of Ohio 2 pages H.R. 1104: Fair Treatment for All Gifts Act Makes gifts made to 501(c)4 "social welfare" groups, 501(c)5 labor and agricultural groups, and 501(c)6 business groups (including chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, and professional football leagues) tax exempt. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois 3 pages H.R. 1058: Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act Tells the IRS Commissioner to "ensure" that IRS employees are "familiar with and act in accord" with a list of "taxpayer rights" including The right to be informed The right to quality service The right to pay no more than the correct amount of tax The right to challenge the position of the Internal Revenue Service and be heard The right to appeal a decision of the Internal Revenue Service in an independent forum The right to finality The right to privacy The right to confidentiality The right to retain representation The right to a fair and just tax system Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois 3 pages H.R. 1152: IRS Email Transparency Act Prohibits IRS employees from using personal email accounts for official business Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Kenny Marchant of Texas 2 pages H.R. 1105: Death Tax Repeal Act Repeals the estate tax for anyone who dies after the bill is signed Repeals the generation-skipping transfer tax, which is a tax on gifts and transfers of wealth to unrelated people who are more than 37.5 years younger than the donor, or to related people who are one generation younger. Would lower the top gift tax rate from 40 to 35 percent. The effects of this on the budget would not be counted. The CBO says this would increase the deficit by $269 billion over the next 10 years President Obama would veto the bill. Passed by 240-179 Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas 7 pages H.R. 622: State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act Permanently extends the law that allows taxpayers who itemize their claims to deduct their state's sales taxes instead of getting a deduction for their state's income taxes. The effect of this bill on the budget would not be counted. CBO says this would increase the Federal deficit by $42 billion over the next ten years. President Obama would veto the bill. Passed the House 272-152. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina was the only Republican no vote Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas 2 pages H.R. 1562: Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2015 Stops Federal agencies from contracting with companies that are tax delinquent A waiver can be issued and the contract granted if a report is submitted to Congress saying that the contract "significantly affects the interests of the United States" Passed the House 424-0 Sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah 9 pages H.R. 471: Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act Makes the Attorney General list specific laws and regulations that a drug company is accused of violating in their notices to the companies regarding the possible suspension of their drug's registration. Allows drug companies to submit a "corrective action plan" when their drug registration may be suspended Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania His top contributing industry for the last election was the pharmaceutical industry; they gave him $55,250. 6 pages S. 971: Medicare Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Improvement Act Increases the length of Medicare contracts for at-home care from 3 years to 5 years Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon 2 pages H.R. 373: Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act Clarifies that search and rescue volunteers are not Federal volunteers and are not entitled to Federal compensation. Releases the government from liability for allowing search and rescue teams onto Federal land so that they won't have to get insurance. The government as to approve or deny a request for a search and rescue mission within 48 hours. Passed the House 413-0 Sponsored by Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada Rep. Heck introduced the bill in response to the murder of Keith Goldberg; the search for his body in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area was delayed because the search team needed a special use permit and a $1 million insurance policy. It took 10 months to get the insurance; his body was found 3 hours after their search began. The National Association for Search and Rescue and the National Park Service, however, don't think access is a problem. 6 pages S. 304: Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act Protects the identity of whistleblowers who provide information relating to motor vehicle defects or other dangerous safety problems. Allows the government to give up to 30% of the fine collected from a car company that breaks the law to the whistleblower whose information lead to the conviction. The whistleblower is not allowed to be represented by a lawyer. Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by Senator John Thune of South Dakota Senator Thune has taken over $380,000 from the automotive industry 11 pages S. 984: Steve Gleason Act of 2015 Starting in 2016, Medicare would cover speech generating devices. Allows people to own their speech generating devices (as opposed to renting them) if purchased between October 1, 2015 and October 1, 2018. Named after former NFL football player Steve Gleason, who played for the New Orleans Saints before being diagnosed with ALS Passed the Senate of a voice vote Sponsored by Senator David Vitter of Louisiana 3 pages Hearings Rules Committee: April 13 on HR 650 and HR 685, about housing bills. Rules Committee: April 21 on HR 1731 and HR 1560 on Cybersecurity House Committee on Financial Services: March 18 hearing on deregulation for banks titled "Preserving Consumer Choice and Financial Independence" Information Presented in This Episode Article: 'Doc fix' headed to president's desk after easily clearing Senate by Paul Demko, Modern Healthcare, April 14, 2015. Article: The mobile-home trap: How a Warren Buffett empire preys on the poor by Mike Baker and Daniel Wagner, The Seattle Times, April 2, 2015. Article: MBA's Mortgage Action Alliance: A Message from MAA Chairman Fowler Williams by Fowler Williams, National Mortgage Professional Magazine, June 11, 2015. Article: U.S. Bank Profits Near Record Levels by Robin Sidel and Saabira Chaudhuri, Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2014 Article: Bureaucracy hindered search for slain brother by Anjeanette Damon, USA Today, March 8, 2014. Webpage: About the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, Department of Homeland Security. Webpage: Team Gleason Press Release: Rep. Kelly Introduces Taxpayer Knowledge of IRS Investigations Act Additional Information Kickstarter: Explore Campaign Finance App by Soloman Kahn. Jen's Podcast Appearances Episode 66: Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria Episode 42: Podcast Junkies with Harry Duran Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) Ask Your Doctor by Neal Fox (found on Music Alley by mevio) Thank you by Ben Willmott (found on Music Alley by mevio)

A summary of January, the first month of the 114th Congress. In this episode, a favor for Wall Street is signed into law, the Senate did almost nothing, and the House passed bills that benefit Wall Street, fossil fuel companies, and companies that don't want to give you health insurance. There were a few good bills mixed in there too. Please Support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! January Laws HR 26: Terrorism Risk Insurance Program ReAuthorization Act of 2015 The bill reauthorizes and changes the terms of the program that provides Federal insurance to businesses damaged in a terrorist attack. The program was dead for 12 days after expiring on December 31, 2014. Extends the program until December 31, 2020 Decreases the Federal share of compensation from 85% to 80% over the course of the next five years. There's a $100 billion cap on Federal losses. The program trigger, which is the point at which insurance companies get Federal money, gradually increases from $100 million now to $200 million. The Secretary of Treasury alone will certify the act of terrorism; the Secretary of State will no longer be involved. A rollback of the Dodd Frank financial reform bill was attached. The attachment prevents the SEC from telling swaps traders how much cash they need to put up front to make a swaps trade. The attachment is the text of the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act, which was written by Rep. Michael Grimm. He tried to get it passed in the 112th and 113th Congresses, before he resigned on the first day of the 114th Congress after pleading guilty to tax fraud. The Securities and Investment industry was his #2 contributor, giving him over $400,000. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, who fought to keep this provision in the bill, has taken at least $2.8 million from the financial industry. January Bills H.R. 22 and S. 12: Hire More Heroes Act Veterans with government health care will not count towards the 50 employee Affordable Care Act threshold which triggers a company's obligation to give employees health insurance. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Rodney Davis in the House, who has taken over $180,000 from health professionals and over $160,000 from the insurance industry. The bill is sponsored by Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who has taken almost $1.3 million from health professionals and almost a million from the insurance industry. H.R. 23: National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2015 Reauthorizes and updates the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program The program designed to improve weather modeling, coordinate post-storm investigations, improve understanding of wind's impact on buildings and vital infrastructure, and promote adoption of storm preparation measures. Appropriates about $21 million per year for the next three years Written by Rep. Randy Neugebauer of Texas H.R. 34: Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2015 Consolidates tsunami warning systems for the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and for the Atlantic Ocean into a single warning system, which will cooperate with other countries' warning systems. Appropriates $27 million per year through 2017 to get this done. Passed unanimously. Written by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon H.R. 203: Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act Requires annual independent evaluations of Veteran's Administration mental health programs Requires the Veteran's Administration to create a website for information about their mental health services that needs to be updated at least every 90 days. Creates a three year pilot program to repay psychiatrists' loans ($30,000 a year) if they work for at least two years at the Veteran's Health Administration. Prohibits any additional money to get this done. Written by Democrat Rep. Timothy Walz of Minnesota H.R. 351: LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act Forces the Department of Energy to decide on applications to construct, expand, or operate liquified natural gas export facilities within 30 days of the completed NEPA review. Requires the applicant to publicly disclose the specific destination of the liquified natural gas exports. Written by Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio, whose top three contributing industries are #1 Leadership PACs, who have given him over $387,000, #2 Mining, who has given him over $250,000, and #3 Oil and Gas, who has given him over $244,000. H.R. 3: and S. 1 Keystone XL Pipeline Act Explicitly approves the Keystone XL pipeline. Forces any lawsuits against the pipeline to be filed in Washington D.C. or in the Supreme Court Written by Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, whose #1 contributing industry is Oil & Gas, who have given him over $322,000. The House version would be vetoed by the President H.R. 30: Save American Workers Act of 2015 Makes people work for 40+ hours to be eligible for employer provided health insurance. Effective as of January 1, 2014 The effects of this on the budget will not be counted Written by Rep. Todd Young of Indiana Passed 252-172 Would be vetoed by the President H.R. 185: Regulatory Accountability Act of 2015 Adds extra work to creating regulations Makes it easier for the courts to shut down regulations Written by Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, who has accepted over $10 million from various industries Passed the House 250-175 Would be vetoed by the President H.R. 37: Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act A package of 11 Wall Street deregulation bills from the 113th Congress (the GOP House leadership tried to get this passed as an uncontroversial suspension bill on the second day of the 114th Congress). Includes the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act, which is the bill that has already been signed into law as an attachment to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program reauthorization. Would delay the Volcker rule until 2019 (the Federal Reserve already delayed it until 2017), which prohibits commercial banks from trading collateralized loan obligations. Would allow companies to exclude historical data from their financial reports at their discretion. Companies with under $250 million in revenue wouldn't have to submit their financial statements in computer readable form (this would include roughly 60% of publicly traded stocks). Exempts some private equity firms from having to register as brokers with the SEC, which will exempt them from more frequent examinations. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who is retiring from Congress at the end of this term. His #1 contributing industry is leadership PACs but his #4 is the finance industry. He's taken almost $500,000 Would be vetoed by the President YouTube: GOP Financial Services video about HR 37, starring Michael Fitzpatrick H.R. 161: Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act This bill was discussed during the 113th Congress in episode CD055: Three Bills for Fossil Fuels Permits for natural gas pipelines must be decided in under 1 year If the agency does not decide within 90 days of the completed environmental review, the permit will be automatically approved on the 120th day Written by Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas (who is the Koch brothers' Congressman) who has taken almost $300,000 from Koch Industries alone. In total, he has taken $928,000 from the Oil and Gas industry. Would be vetoed by the President H.R. 7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015 Would prohibit Federal funding for any abortion (Currently, federal funds cannot be used for abortion services, except in cases involving rape, incest, or life endangermen). Prohibits small businesses from claiming their health insurance tax credit if the plan they offer includes abortion Written by Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey Would be vetoed by the President H.R. 240: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 Already dead. H.R. 514: Human Trafficking Prioritization Act Sense of Congress that the State Department can combat trafficking just fine without more money and orders a report. Written by Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey H.R. 515: International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking Creates a new Angel Watch Center in the Department of Homeland Security which will track and store travel information about sex-offenders and notify other countries of the sex-offender's travel plans. Written by Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey H.R. 357: Human Trafficking Prevention Act Expands required information in training programs for Federal employees dealing with human trafficking. Written by Rep. Sean Maloney of New York H.R. 468: Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking Act of 2015 Adds "severe forms of trafficking in person" to the list of things that grant money for runaway and homeless kids can be used for Written by Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada H.R. 350: Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015 Orders a few reports Written by Kristi Noem of South Dakota H.R. 159: Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2015 Prioritizes how grants to local police forces are given based on the State's laws' treatment of victims of sex trafficking Makes sex trafficking victims eligible for the Jobs Corps even if they aren't low income Written by Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota H.R. 285: SAVE Act of 2015 Makes advertising the services of prostitutes who are under 18 or are forced into prostitution punishable by ten years in prison. Written by by Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri H.R. 181: Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 Prioritizes how grants to local police forces are given based on the State's laws' treatment of victims of sex trafficking Adds the production of child pornography to the definition of "child abuse' Allows the FBI to wire tap suspected child abusers Eliminates the prosecutorial requirement that that the government prove that the defendant recklessly disregarded the victims age puts the burden of proof on the defendant Written by Rep. Ted Poe of Texas H.R. 460: Human Trafficking Detection Act of 2015 Trains TSA, Customs, and Border Patrol agents on how to detect and disrupt human trafficking within one year Written by Rep. Bradley Walker of North Carolina H.R. 398 and S. 205: Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2015 Gives a grant to one hospital to develop best practices for recognizing and treating human trafficking victims Written by Rep. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina in the House and Rep. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana in the Senate. H.R. 469: Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2015 Prioritizes how grants to local police forces are given based on the State's laws' treatment of victims of sex trafficking Written by Rep. Karen Bass of California H.R. 246: To improve the response to victims of child sex trafficking. Adds child sex trafficking to the list of things that should be reported on the "cyber tipline" Written by Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio Additional Information Article: Obama Moves to Block Horse Slaughter by Stephanie Strom. New York Times. April 2013. Article: Fox News to earn $1.50 per subscriber by Brian Stelter. CNN Money. January 2015. Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) CEO by Kito Peters (found on Music Alley by mevio) Warden Pale's Big Profit Prison by William Brooks Be Heard Have something to say? Leave a message on the Congressional Dish voicemail line and it might be featured on the show! Call (339) 707-0307 Help Congressional Dish Rate Congressional Dish with 5 stars on iTunes and leave a rave review. Download and share the FREE Congressional Dish app for iPhones & iPads and all Android devices. Submit your favorite episodes to Reddit. Musicians: Share your music with Congressional Dish (and the world) - email the mp3 to Jen at Congressioanldish dot com. Share your favorite episodes with other podcasters, share with your Facebook friends, share with your Tweeps, share, share, share!

This episode was recorded 16 May 2013 live and in person at Omni's lovely offices overlooking Lake Union in Seattle. You can download the m4a file or subscribe in iTunes. (Or subscribe to the podcast feed.) Paul Goracke is a senior staff engineer at Black Pixel, where he works on things he can't talk about but that you've used. He's also a former instructor at the University of Washington's Cocoa development program, and has at times been the lead organizer of the Seattle Xcoders. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Get 10% off by going to http://squarespace.com/therecord. Better still: go work for Squarespace! They're hiring 30 engineers and designers by March 15, and, “When you interview at Squarespace, we'll invite you and your spouse or partner to be New Yorkers for a weekend—on us.” The great designers at Squarespace have designed an entire weekend for you, from dining at Alder to going to the Smalls Jazz Club and visiting The New Museum. Seriously cool deal at beapartofit.squarespace.com. This episode is also sponsored by Microsoft Azure Mobile Services. Mobile Services is a great way to provide backend services — syncing and other things — for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps. Write code — Javascript code — in your favorite text editor on your Mac. (Mobile Services runs Node.js.) Deploy via git. Write unit tests using mocha (or your tool of choice). Supports authenticating via Twitter, Facebook, and Google — and you can roll your own system. It's cool. Things we mention, in order of appearance (more or less): CodeWarrior SIOUX-WASTE TextEdit 32K limit WASTE Usenet Metrowerks Ron John Daub Compact Discs Adobe MacTech on SIOUX WorldScript Unicode UTF-8 PowerPC Apprentice CDs DNA sequencers California Stanford Sun workstation PC Minnesota Egghead Software NFR copies Think C Think C Reference Learn C on the Macintosh Inside Mac Scott Knaster book Ultimate Mac Programming Guide Apple events Inside OLE 4th Dimension Guy Kawasaki Apple II Atari Commodore VisiCalc BASIC Nibble magazine Elephant Disks Beagle Bros. Byte TRS-80 Creative Computing 6502 C pointers fseek Apple IIe Apple IIgs Lemonade Stand Token rings 1994 The Computer Store Powerbook 180 Filemaker SQL HyperCard Myst Broderbund Sierra On-Line King's Quest PowerPlant Flash JavaScript Java Applet Remote Method Invocation Java Native Interface Windows NT Classpaths Bioinformatics Perl use strict Berkeley DB MySQL RedHat Linux Emacs Quartz Composer Grok Forth Seattle Xcoders 2004 2005 NSCoder Night CocoaHeads Pirate flag Advanced Mac OS X Programming book Gus Mueller Rogue Sheep MacBU OmniGroup dBug Lucas Newman Mike Lee Wil Shipley Golden Braeburn Joe Heck Hal Mueller WWDC Luau SFMacIndie Party Jillian's Jacqui Cheng Clint Ecker Guy English C4 NeXT BeOS UW Salvage Subversion Versions John Flansburgh Northside

This episode was recorded 17 May 2013 live and in person at Omni's lovely offices overlooking Lake Union in Seattle. You can download the m4a file or subscribe in iTunes. (Or subscribe to the podcast feed.) Gus Mueller, Flying Meat founder, created VoodooPad (now at Plausible Labs) and Acorn, the image editor for humans. Gus is also responsible for open source software such as FMDB and JSTalk. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Get 10% off by going to http://squarespace.com/therecord. Better still: go work for Squarespace! They're hiring 30 engineers and designers by March 15, and, “When you interview at Squarespace, we'll invite you and your spouse or partner to be New Yorkers for a weekend—on us.” The great designers at Squarespace have designed an entire weekend for you, from dining at Alder to going to the Smalls Jazz Club and visiting The New Museum. Seriously cool deal at beapartofit.squarespace.com. This episode is also sponsored by Microsoft Azure Mobile Services. Mobile Services is a great way to provide backend services — syncing and other things — for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps. Write code — Javascript code — in your favorite text editor on your Mac. (Mobile Services runs Node.js.) Deploy via git. Write unit tests using mocha (or your tool of choice). Supports authenticating via Twitter, Facebook, and Google — and you can roll your own system. It's cool. Things we mention, in order of appearance (more or less): Rock climbing Luke Adamson Missouri 2001 2002 Cocoa Apple IIc 1993 Mac Color Classic BASIC ELIZA Artificial Intelligence Assembler Missile Command Java Eric Albert Perl Animated GIFs CGIs Server push images REALBasic PC Apple IIe DOS Colossal Caves Plover Nibble Civilization UNIX AIX A/UX St. Louis Columbia Math is hard Single sign-on Servlets OS X WWDC Rhapsody 1995 MacPERL NiftyTelnet BBEdit FlySketch Coffee Picasso's bull sketches VoodooPad 22" Cinema Display OS X Innovator's Award O'Reilly Peter Lewis Rich Siegel Mark Aldritt Ambrosia Panic Transmit Audion O'Reilly Mac OS Conference Audio Hijack Paul Kafasis SubEthaEdit Mac Pro Ireland XML PDF Victoria's Secret Caterpillar Adobe InDesign OS X Server Xserve Macintosh G5 MacUpdate VersionTracker QuickDraw Kerberos HyperCard Objective-C messaging system Aaron Hillegass's book Java-Cocoa bridge JDBC Oracle databases 2005 Seattle Microsoft Parents Just Don't Understand Vancouver, BC B.B. King Seattle Xcoders Joe Heck University of Missouri Evening at Adler Wil Shipley Daniel Jalkut Eric Peyton Quicksilver Rosyna Chicago Drunkenbatman Adler Planetarium C4 Wolf Colin Barrett Delicious Generation Disco.app My Dream App Chimera / Camino Santa Clara World Wrapps Buzz Andersen Quartz Core Image Filters Bezier curves Wacom Unit tests Automated builds ZeroLink Metrowerks CodeWarrior NeXT BeOS Macintosh Performa Display Postscript SGIs Sun boxes Mac OS 8 MachTen Netscape Internet Explorer for Mac OS Outlook Express OmniGroup Shakespeare's pizza Pagliacci Neapolitan pizza Everett FIOS Fender Stratocaster GarageBand AudioBus Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop Elements JSTalk AppleScript SQLite WebKit Napkin

DaveMcKeon wants a bio about Chris before he'll come on the show. Normally people take our invitations with enthusiasm. This is not how we start a relationship with the party we want to be the chairman of. Twitter stuff. Joe Heck breakfast stuff.