Law and Government Legislation regarding 'Rural affairs' in Federal Government

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Designates April 20-April 26, 2008, as National Community Health Aide, Community Health Practitioner, and Dental Health Aide Week.

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exempt certain rural hospitals from the 12% cap on disproportionate share hospital (DSH) adjustment percentages.

Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2007 - Amends federal transportation law to provide funding for airport planning and development and noise compatibility planning programs for the six-month period beginning October 1, 2007. Extends until March 31, 2008: (1) the authority of the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to incur obligations to make grants under such programs; and (2) the 95% temporary increase in the federal government's share of certain airport improvement program costs.

Directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to calculate funding apportionments for airport development programs in FY2008 in accordance with a specified formula.

Extends through FY2008 the period for final orders issued by the Secretary with respect to eligibility for essential air service compensation.

Health Care Safety Net Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY2008-FY2012 for: (1) health centers to meet the health care needs of medically underserved populations; (2) the National Health Service Corps; and (3) rural health care programs.

Requires studies or reports on: (1) school-based health centers; (2) community health centers; and (3) integrated health system models for the delivery of health care services to medically underserved populations.

Food and Energy Security Act of 2007 - Revises agricultural and related programs and provisions respecting: (1) producer income; (2) conservation; (3) trade; (4) nutrition; (5) credit; (6) rural development and investment; (7) research and related matters; (8) forestry; (9) energy; (10) livestock marketing; and (11) agricultural security.

Community Health Center Capital Investment Act - Amends the National Housing Act to revise the eligibility requirements for mortgages insured by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to include a mortgage executed by a health center.

Enhanced Opportunities for Formerly Homeless Veterans Residing in Permanent Housing Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct pilot programs of grants to: (1) coordinate the provision of supportive services available in the local community to very low income, formerly homeless veterans residing in permanent housing; (2) provide outreach to inform low-income and elderly veterans and their spouses who reside in rural areas of benefits for which they may be eligible; and (3) establish new, or expand or modify existing, programs or activities to furnish transportation, childcare, and clothing assistance to certain individuals with service-related disabilities who are entitled to a rehabilitation program.

Amends the Mni Wiconi Project Act of 1988 to authorize appropriations for the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project, South Dakota, through 2013.

Amends the Mni Wiconi Project Act of 1988 to authorize appropriations for the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project, South Dakota, through 2013.

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Amends the Vision 100--Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act to extend through FY2008 the effectiveness of any final order of the Secretary of Transportation, including exisitng final orders, with respect to the eligibility for essential air service subsidies of any place in the United States based on highway mileage between it and the nearest medium hub airport or large hub airport.

Northern Border Economic Development Commission Act of 2007 - Establishes the Northern Border Economic Development Commission, having a region of specified counties in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, to develop plans and programs and to approve grants for the economic development of the region. Requires each such state to submit a development plan for the area of the region represented by such state. Outlines program development criteria, and provides for the approval of development plans and projects.

Requires as a Commission goal to address economic distress along the northern border of the United States east of, and including, Cayuga County, New York, especially in rural areas.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2008 the Indian employment tax credit and the accelerated depreciation of business property used on Indian reservations.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2008 the Indian employment tax credit and the accelerated depreciation of business property used on Indian reservations.

New Employment for Workers & Job Opportunities for Business Strength Act of 2007 or the NEW JOBS Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase by $500 million in 2008 the new markets tax credit limitation amount that is allocable among qualified community development entities for investments in or loans to businesses that hire trade adjustment assistance (TAA) recipients or that meet other TAA requirements.

Box Elder Utah Land Conveyance Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the city of Mantua, Utah, all interest of the United States in and to the parcels of National Forest System land in Box Elder County that are labeled as parcels A, B, and C.

Amends the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988 to require: (1) the Secretary of the Interior to assure that not less than one-third of funds appropriated for economic development through each tribe's Tribal Resource Fund be expended for municipal or rural water development; and (2) funds appropriated by this Act and placed in the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Tribal Resource Funds which have not been disbursed by December 31, 2020, to be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.

African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2007 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance, including through international or nongovernmental organizations, for programs to improve human health care capacity in sub-Saharan Africa.

Directs the President to develop and transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy for coordinating, implementing, and monitoring assistance programs for human health care capacity in sub-Saharan Africa.

Rural Commuters Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers who reside in a rural area of not more than 30,000 people a $100 tax credit for commuting costs in any month in which the cost of gasoline is at least $3 per gallon (high gasoline price month). Allows an additional $100 credit for carpooling during a high gasoline price month. Allows individual taxpayers to claim such deduction whether or not they itemize their other deductions.

Rural Students College, Career, and Community Readiness Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to up to two nonprofit organizations to conduct higher education and career readiness demonstration projects.

Requires grantees to partner with rural local educational agencies and schools to enroll a cohort of seventh grade students and a cohort of ninth grade students into the demonstration projects, which are to provide such students with approximately 25 hours of informational and educational services in each grade through grade 12 that prepare them for higher education and a successful career.

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to amend the definition of highly qualified teacher to specifiy rural teachers who are highly qualified in at least one core academic subject they teach, and who will become highly qualified in each additional subject they teach within three years after their hiring date, if their local educational agencies provide them with high-quality professional development and a program of intensive supervision that will ensure that they become highly qualified in such additional subjects.

Adds the Tennessee counties of Hickman, Perry, and Wayne to the definition of "Appalachian region" for purposes of Appalachian regional development efforts.

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a five-year pilot program, in five rural states, under which the Secretary trains and then assigns a specific Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) case manager to each veteran diagnosed with traumatic brain injury who is receiving care in a VA facility in that state.

Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to request the Senate to return H.R. 3161 (making FY2008 appropriations for agriculture, rural development, the Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies programs) and modify the engrossment of the bill to prohibit fund use: (1) to employ an alien who is not authorized to be employed in the United States; and (2) for rental housing assistance to an alien not authorized to receive such assistance.

Small Community Visioning Improvement Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to eligible recipients for small community visioning processes to: (1) help small communities address pressing local needs; (2) facilitate coordination between small communities, land-grant and other universities, and design professionals; (3) encourage public-private partnerships; and (4) develop design projects that integrate physical planning and design techniques with sustainable community action.

Supports the goals of the community development block grant (CDBG) program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Recognizes the importance of the CDBG program in reducing poverty and strengthening communities in the United States.

Urges states and entitlement communities to review their allocations of CDBG funds to ensure that special emphasis is placed on using such funds to eliminate poverty.

Amends the Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act to extend the effective period of final orders of the Secretary of Transportation regarding the eligibility of small communities for essential air service subsidies through September 30, 2012.

Requires an air carrier that has a contract for the provision of essential air service to an eligible small community that expires on September 30, 2007, to continue the service until at least the earlier of: (1) January 1, 2008; or (2) the date on which the Secretary identifies a new air carrier to provide such service.