CD107: New Laws & Veterans’ Health Care

Good news can be found in this episode! In July, eight bills were signed into law and none of them will make you want to flee the country. Topics covered include veterans and their health care, product warranties, transportation funding, and more. At the end of the episode, Jen shares some happy news. Please support Congressional Dish: to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription 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 : Veterans Identification Card Act of 2015 US Department of Veterans' Affairs Info Sheet: Discussed in 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 . The cards would be available the bill would be signed into law. Passed the House of Representatives . Passed the Senate with changes by Unanimous Consent Sponsored by of Florida : Department of Homeland Security Interoperable Communications Discussed in episode Gives the Under Secretary of Management of the Department of Homeland Security the job of making sure that DHS departments can communicate with each other in emergencies. Passed the House of Representatives . Passed the Senate with changes by Unanimous Consent. Passed the House of representatives with Senate changes by Voice Vote. Sponsored by of New Jersey : Medicare Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Improvement Act of 2015 Discussed in episode Increases the length of Medicare contracts for at-home care from 3 years to 5 years Passed the Senate and House of Representatives by Voice Votes. Sponsored by of Oregon : Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act Passed the House of Representatives by Voice Vote. Passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent a process for temporary employees at Federal land management agencies to become permanent employees age requirements for eligibility for temporary employees seeking to become permanent employees. Sponsored by of Virginia : E-Warranty Act of 2015 manufacturers to provide warranty information online, the warranty information is available at the location of the sale so people can see it before they buy. Passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent. Passed the House of Representatives The two no votes were Rep. Dan Benishek of Michigan's 1st district and Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina's 3rd district. Sponsored by : Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 Passed the House of Representatives . Passed the Senate with changes by Unanimous Consent. Passed the House of Representatives with Senate changes by Voice Vote. the Small Business Administration from charging a guarantee fee on loans made to veterans or their spouses. When the program doesn't pay for itself in the President's budget proposal, the fee can be charged to veteran's and their spouses the next year. the amount of money than can be spent on business loans by $4.75 billion. loan guarantees from being used by banks to get around their legal lending limits. Sponsored by of Ohio : Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Jerry Peak Wilderness Additions Act land in Idaho as wilderness areas. that was already taking place to continue. Passed the House of Representatives by Voice Vote. Passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent. Sponsored by of Idaho : Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 Transportion Federal highway funding until October 29, 2015. the tax rate for liquified petroleum gas . Banking the banks to report more information about the status of mortgages starting in 2017. the value of a deceased person's estate to the estimate on the deceased person's most recent tax return. the tax return due date for partnerships and S corporations Veterans the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs to develop a plan to consolidate all non-Department of Veteran's Affairs provider programs into one program called the "Veteran's Choice Program". money to the fund for private health care for veterans, including $500 million for hepatitis C drugs the text of the , which said that 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. Passed the House of Representatives . Passed the Senate . Sponsored by of Pennsylvania Sound Clip Sources Hearing: , House Veterans' Affairs Committee, July 22, 2015. Additional Reading from Senators Ron Wyden and Charles Grassley to the Chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences for justification of high Sovaldi price. Article: by Joseph Bebon, Next-Gen Transportation News, July 31, 2015. Article: by Gerard Flynn, Newsweek, May 9, 2015. Article: by Dennis Wagner of the Arizona Republic (re-posted on USA Today), June 21, 2015. Article: by Gardiner Harris, New York Times, September 15, 2014. Article: by Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times, August 2, 2104. Article: by Jaimy Lee, Modern Healthcare, February 3, 2015. Article: by Caroline Chen, Bloomberg Business, July 28, 2015. Article: by David Belk, Huffington Post, February 9, 2015. Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: by (found on by mevio) Cover Art Design by