Last year was full of victories for Nevada and Americans across the country because of Dean Heller’s

leadership.

Heller helped author the tax plan that repeals the Obamacare individual mandate and has already led to higher wages and a commitment of 11,000 new jobs in Nevada, ensured 294 Trump appointees were confirmed (19 of which were judges, including Justice Neil Gorsuch), and fought to pass numerous bills that help our veterans.

From legislation that holds the VA accountable to a bill that encourages women entrepreneurs, Heller had 15 bills signed into law by President Trump. Here are some of the bills he worked on that were passed:

VA Choice and Quality Employment Act; provides $2.1 billion in funding to continue the Veterans Choice Program.

Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017; reformed the VA appeals process for disability claims.

Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017; Provides the VA expedited firing authority for bad VA employees.

Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017; Provides comprehensive reform of the Post 9/11 G.I. educational assistance program and includes three provisions backed by Senator Heller.

Guard and Reservists Education Improvement Act (Heller); Restructures the G.I. bill eligibility tiers for certain Guardsmen and Reservists.

VET TEC Act; establishes pilot program to allow veterans to enroll in non-traditional courses related to technology careers like coding.

Veterans Education Relief and Reinstatement Act (Heller Original Cosponsor). Ensures veterans who suffer a permanent school closure are able to have their G.I. bill benefits reinstated.

INSPIRE Women Act. Directs NASA to encourage women and girls to study STEM and pursue aerospace careers.

Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship; Authorizes the National Science Foundation to encourage its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and into the commercial world.

Fair Access to Investment Research Act; would give investors access to more research and information on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

 

Although Heller accomplished a lot last year, there are still more pieces of legislation he is fighting to pass in 2018. They include:

Filipino Veterans Promise Act (Heller/Hirono); requires the DOD to establish a process to ensure Filipino World War II veterans have an opportunity to prove their service.

CARE for Veterans’ Dependents Act (Heller/Murray); a bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize per diem payments under comprehensive service programs for homeless veterans to furnish care to dependents of homeless veterans, and for other purposes.

Women Veterans Access to Quality Care Act. Improves VA care for women veterans.

Retired Pay Restoration Act.; allows for concurrent receipt of disability payments and retired pay.

Veterans Small Business Ownership Improvements Act. To establish the veterans’ business outreach center program, to improve the programs for veterans of the Small Business Administration.

VA Provider Accountability Act. This bill would require the VA to report major adverse actions to the National Practitioner Data Bank and state licensing boards within 30 days of issuing a major adverse action. It also prohibits VA from concealing serious medical errors in a personnel file.

Legislation for VA cemetery improvements; this bill would ensure a consistent eligibility date for provision of VA memorial headstones and markers for eligible spouses and dependent children of veterans whose remains are unavailable.

FCC Consolidated Reporting Act (Heller/Schatz); consolidates outdated FCC reports into one single marketplace report issued every two years.

Securities and Exchange Commission Overpayment Credit Act; would allow the SEC to provide credit to national securities exchanges and SROs that have overpaid fees and assessment balances by offsetting future payment requirements.

Supporting America’s Innovators Act;   would raise the ceiling of accredited investors’ venture capital funds can acquire from 100 to 250 before SEC registration is required. The expansion of investors for venture capital-type funds would help provide greater access to capital for American small businesses, and will allow more accredited investors to participate in venture investments in small businesses.

HERO Improvements Act, as part of S. 1311. Expands the popular Human Exploitation Rescue Operation (HERO) program, which allows wounded and injured military veterans to receive training in computer forensics to fight online child sexual exploitation. It also ensures funding for the HERO training internship and makes sure that there are positions available in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for those who complete the program. The bill passed as part of S. 1311, the Abolish Human Trafficking Act.

The No Budget, No Pay Act. Would prohibit pay for Members of Congress if a concurrent budget resolution and all appropriations bills are not enacted on time.

The Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act.; would fix and clarify that private flood insurance, as determined by state regulators, would be acceptable for meeting mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements.

The Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act; would provide pay to U.S. military service members in the event of a government shutdown.

Eastern Nevada Economic Development and Land Management Improvement Act; this bill would make technical changes to wilderness areas in Eastern Nevada and would allow White Pine County to use money from land sales to invest in its infrastructure.

Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act;  Directs federal land agencies to implement a process to provide eligible organizations and individuals expedited access to federal land to conduct good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions.

Pershing County Economic Development and Conservation Act; resolves the checkerboard status of Pershing County’s lands and puts the proceeds from sales into a SNPLMA-like account;  designates certain wilderness areas.

Emergency Fuel Reduction Act; this legislation creates a categorical exclusion for fuel reduction projects on federal lands of 10,000 acres or less if the land has dead or dying trees, insect infested trees, is near endangered species habitat, or a utility right of way.

Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act; this legislation streamlines the permitting process for renewable energy development projects on federal lands.

Nevada Land Sovereignty Act; bars the President from designating monuments in Nevada under the Antiquities Act without the express consent of Congress and the Governor.

National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act; this is your mining permitting reform bill.  It speeds up the permitting process for new mines and expedites the NEPA process.

Rural Broadband Deployment Streamlining Act; implements a shot clock of 270 days for broadband siting applications and streamlines the application process.

Truck Technology Parity Act; semi-truck manufacturers are beginning to produce commercially available electric semi-trucks. However, the electric truck requires heavy-duty battery packs that increase the weight of the truck tractor by about 2,000 pounds, reducing carrying capacity under the Federal 80,000-pound vehicle weight limit.  This legislation would provide electric semi-trucks a 2,000-pound exemption under the federal weight limit.

Public Buildings Renewal Act; Enables states, communities to establish public-private partnerships (P3s) for needed public infrastructure improvements, such as in schools or public universities, by creating $5 billion in new private activity bonds for public buildings.

Mortgage Debt Tax Relief Act; prevents homeowners from being forced to pay taxes on forgiven mortgage loan debt; extends exclusion through 2018.

While Heller produced results, rookie Congresswoman Jacky Rosen failed to pass a single bill she authored and committed to voting in lockstep with her party bosses and opposed issues critical for Nevadans such as defunding cities that harbor violent criminals and passing a tax cut middle-class families need and deserve.