We at POPVOX think a lot about Congress and the staffers that make Congress go. Recently, a Congressional office asked us to share best practices for using POPVOX in their work. The following slideshow demonstrates how staffers (and advocates) can use publicly-available POPVOX information to lead a legislative effort. (Staff also have access to some special district-specific tools and dashboards when they are logged in with a staff account.) How are YOU using POPVOX? Let us know!

From our Hill sources:

Both the House and Senate will take up tax bills this week, in honor of tax day (April 17 this year).

H.R. 9 — This bill, the Small Business Tax Cut act, is the House GOP proposal to reduce small business taxes by 20 percent. The House should start work on this bill by Wednesday. It is expected to pass by Thursday at the latest.

S. 2230 — The Paying a Fair Share Act from Senate Democrats (i.e. the “Buffett rule”) would require a minimum 30 percent tax on all income earned above $1 million. This was the fifth-most commented bill on POPVOX last week.

Senate-watchers expect that the Senate will be limited to just debating this bill, given Republican opposition and the need for 60 votes to end debate. On Monday evening, the Senate will vote on a motion to proceed to the bill.

Transportation extension — This legislation (no bill number yet) would extend federal highway programs until September 30. Congress has authorized federal highway programs through June, but House Republicans are looking to pass another extension, plus language that would require approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

H.R. 4089 — The Sportsmen’s Heritage act (the seventh-most talked about bill last week) would expand the ability of sportsmen to use firearms on land controlled by the federal government.
Suspension bills — The House plans to take up four bills under a suspension of House rules, a process usually reserved for non-controversial bills.

Two would authorize congressional gold medals, one for famed singer and actor Lena Horne (H.R. 1815), the other for golfer Jack Nicklaus (H.R. 4040).

Two others celebrate historical figures: Mark Twain (H.R. 2453), and Raoul Wallenberg, who helped save Jews during the Holocaust (H.R. 3001).

Other bills of interest:

Last week, CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (H.R. 3523), was the top-trending bill on POPVOX. No votes are planned on this bill, but House Republicans could start the process of moving a cyber security bill in committee. This may also involve ideas found in H.R. 4263, which Republicans introduced just before the Easter break.

The second-most popular bill on POPVOX last week was H.R. 4043, the Military Readiness and Southern Sea Otter Conservation Act. This bill would allow Naval operations off the Southern California coast, even when otters are migrating through those waters. The House Natural Resources subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs will hold a hearing on this bill Thursday morning.

There are no signs of any movement for H.Res. 612, (number 10 on POPVOX last week), a resolution honoring the life of Trayvon Martin and urging repeal of Stand Your Ground laws.

Check out the bills that brought the most activity this week and click the links below to tell Congress what you think of them:

H.R. 3523: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011

H.R. 4043: Military Readiness and Southern Sea Otter Conservation Act

H.R. 2657: Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act

H.R. 1259: Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2011

S. 2230: Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012

H.R. 4170: Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012

H.R. 4089: Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012

H.R. 123: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make certain tax relief permanent, and to repeal the estate tax.

S. 2200: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt certain family-owned farms and businesses from the estate tax.

H.Res. 612: Honoring the life of 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, urging the State of Florida and others to repeal the Stand Your Ground law, and admonishing involved parties to pursue full investigations into all homicides, regardless of defenses asserted by the offender.

H.R. 696: Tax Relief Certainty Act of 2011

H.R. 1448: Federal Response to Eliminate Eating Disorders Act of 2011

H.R. 3359: Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act

H.R. 1327: Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2011

H.R. 4214: Compound 1080 and Sodium Cyanide Elimination Act

H.R. 3467: Sensible Estate Tax Act of 2011

H.R. 177: Death Tax Repeal Act

H.R. 4122: Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act

From the POPVOX blog, by Rachna Choudhry on FEBRUARY 15, 2012

Nearly one in four households provide care to someone who is aged. With that in mind, we pulled together some bills that are related to elder care. We hope you’ll weigh in on these bills on POPVOX and share with your friends and networks.

S 464 The End Abuse in Later Life Act establishes a grant program to enhance training and services to prevent abuse in later life.

HR 577 The Elder Abuse Prevention Act prevents the abuse and exploitation of older individuals.

S 1744 The Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act provides funding for State courts to assess and improves the handling of proceedings relating to adult guardianship and conservatorship, authorizes the Attorney General to carry out a pilot program for the conduct of background checks on individuals to be appointed as guardians or conservators, and promotes the widespread adoption of information technology to better monitor, report, and audit conservatorships of protected persons.

S 462 The Elder Abuse Victims Act (and HR 2564) better protects, serves, and advances the rights of victims of elder abuse and exploitation by establishing a program to encourage States and other qualified entities to create jobs designed to hold offenders accountable, enhance the capacity of the justice system to investigate, pursue, and prosecute elder abuse cases.

S 465 The Senior Financial Empowerment Act prevents mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud targeting seniors in the United States, to promote efforts to increase public awareness of the enormous impact that mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud have on seniors, to educate the public, seniors, and their families, and their caregivers about how to identify and combat fraudulent activity.

S 525 The Positive Aging Act amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for integration of mental health services and mental health treatment outreach teams.

S 604 The Senior Mental Health Access Improvement Act provides for the coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under part B of the Medicare program.

S 1819 The Strengthening Services for America’s Seniors Act amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to improve programs and services.
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.

On Monday, the President submits his official Budget request to Congress. The President’s Budget is an outline, a proposal, a “this is how I would do it if I didn’t have to go through Congress,” version.  

The Budget will be made available online and literally delivered to the offices on Capitol Hill, where Congressional aides will begin scouring the language in preparation for the Budget hearings of the coming weeks.  

1. The President’s budget is not a bill. It will not be listed on POPVOX. Some Members of Congress may introduce parts of the budget as bills or some parts of the budget may already exist as bills.
2. Congress likely will not hold a vote on the President’s budget.  Usually the Budget Committees of both chambers introduce their own versions for a vote in Congress.
3. In December 2011, Congress passed an Omnibus spending bill that covers spending through fiscal year 2012. The budget submitted by the President would cover FY 2013, which begins October 1, 2012.

Each week, POPVOX highlights bills that are being considered in Congress, have recently been introduced, or are generally just getting some buzz. Here are a few on the list this week:

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (HR 3897 and S 2043) provides religious conscience protections for individuals and organizations. (Just introduced.)
The Paying a Fair Share Act (HR 3903 and S 2059) implements the Buffett Rule and reduces the deficit by imposing a minimum effective tax rate for high-income taxpayers. (Just introduced.)
S 1945 permits the televising of Supreme Court proceedings. (Senate committee vote on Thurs.)
Civilian Property Realignment Act (HR 1734) decreases the deficit by realigning, consolidating, selling, disposing, and improving the efficiency of federal buildings and other civilian real property. (Just passed the House)
Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act (HR 3521) provides for a legislative line-item veto to expedite consideration of rescissions. (House considering today)
Budget and Accounting Transparency Act (HR 3581) increases transparency in Federal budgeting. (Passed the House on Tues)
STOCK Act (S 2038) prohibits Members of Congress and employees of Congress from using nonpublic information derived from their official positions for personal benefit. (Senate passed; House begins consideration this week.)
Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act (HR 306) directs the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement to provide for management of the free-roaming wild horses in and around the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge. (House passed Mon.)