The POPVOX Blog

Top Bills of the Week on POPVOX

Here's what POPVOXnation weighed in on this week.

• HR 5882 #1 - Legislative Branch Appropriations for FY 2013
• S 3220 #2 - Paycheck Fairness Act
• HR 4170 #3 - Student Loan Forgiveness Act
• HR 3541 #4 - Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA)
• HR 5846 #5 - Second Amendment Sovereignty Act
• HR 5325 #6 - Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for FY 2013
• SRes 446 #7 - Expressing the sense of the Senate that the UN should not exercise control over the Internet
• HR 5855 #8 - Dept. of Homeland Security Appropriations Act
• HR 1146 #9 - American Sovereignty Restoration Act
• S 3240 #10 - Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act (the Farm Bill)
• HR 4282 #11 - International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act
• S 1231 #12 - Second Chance Reauthorization Act
• HR 3594 #13 - Second Amendment Protection Act
• S 1640 #14 - Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act
• S 1108 #15 - 10 Million Solar Roofs Act
• S 2230 #16 - Paying a Fair Share Act
• S 1955 #17 - Authorizes the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk.
• S 2188 #18 - National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act
• HR 4970 #19 - Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act
• HR 2674 #20 - 340B Program Improvement Act

Here's the round up of the week.

In the House

• HR 5325 Energy and Water spending bill appropriates money for the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior, and other related agencies. It increases spending by nearly $90 million compared to the 2012 bill. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 5855 The Department of Homeland Security spending bill cuts nearly $400 million from the current DHS spending levels. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 5882 The Legislative Branch spending bill, $3.3 billion on the House and Capitol operations, $34 million less than current levels. This bill does not include spending for the Senate, which will propose its own spending. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 4282 The International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act ensures that the United States can comply fully with the obligations of the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 241 Authorizes the conveyance of certain National Forest System lands in the Los Padres National Forest in California. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 1740 Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate a segment of Illabot Creek in Skagit County, Washington, as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 2060 The Central Oregon Jobs and Water Security Act adjusts the Crooked River boundary, provides water certainty for the City of Prineville, Oregon. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 2336 The York River Wild and Scenic River Study Act designates segments of the York River and associated tributaries for study for potential inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 2512 The Three Kids Mine Remediation and Reclamation Act provides for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Clark County, Nevada, for the environmental remediation and reclamation of the Three Kids Mine Project Site. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 3263 The Lake Thunderbird Efficient Use Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to allow the storage and conveyance of nonproject water at the Norman project in Oklahoma. (Passed by the House.)
• HR 4222 Provides for the conveyance of certain land inholdings owned by the United States to the Tucson Unified School District and to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona. (Passed by the House.)
• S 363 Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to convey property of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the City of Pascagoula, Mississippi. (Passed by the House.)
• S 292 The Salmon Lake Land Selection Resolution Act resolves the claims of the Bering Straits Native Corporation and the State of Alaska to land adjacent to Salmon Lake in the State of Alaska and to provide for the conveyance to the Bering Straits Native Corporation of certain other public land in partial satisfaction of the land entitlement of the Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. (Passed by the House.)

In the Senate

• S 3220 The Paycheck Fairness Act: Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex. (Failed cloture vote.)
• S 3240 The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act: This is a five year reauthorization of federal farm programs. (Senate continues to consider.)

Please keep in mind that highlighting a bill doesn't imply a POPVOX endorsement in any way. Rather, we're simply trying to offer one more way to stay informed of an overwhelmingly complex legislative system.