United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1985
Performing Arts Labor Relations Amendments - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to exclude specified types of employers and performers in the performing arts from coverage under unfair labor practice provisions prohibiting specified contracts or agreements between employers and labor organizations and prohibiting specified actions of labor organizations to force or require cessation of dealings with others, joining of labor or employer organizations, or recognition of or negotiation with labor organizations not certified as representative. Permits such employers, excluding employers in the broadcasting or motion picture industries, to: (1) agree with a labor organization to make membership in such organization a condition of performing arts employment; and (2) make agreements with a labor organization covering performing artists even if the majority status of the organization has not yet been established. Defines "employer" to include purchasers of musical performance services. Defines "employee" to include independent contractors engaged to perform musical services.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1985
Fair Insurance Coverage Act - Prohibits any insurer from discriminating in an insurance contract against any person because of blindness. Includes within the prohibition refusing to make or negotiate a contract for insurance or giving different treatment with respect to terms, conditions, rates, or benefits because of blindness. Establishes a preference for State actions prior to judicial enforcement under this Act. Authorizes any aggrieved person, in the absence of State actions or jurisdiction, to bring an action under this Act for individual relief. Authorizes the Attorney General of the United States to bring an action for injunctive relief whenever there is reasonable cause to believe a person is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination or when an individual is aggrieved and an issue of general public importance is raised. Grants the Federal district courts jurisdiction of such actions regardless of the amount in controversy. Allows a court to order monetary, equitable, or other appropriate relief, including punitive damages.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code to permit certain loans from employee benefit plans to owner-employees and shareholder-employees.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide for the following exception under the definition of "supervisor." Prohibits deeming any faculty member or group of faculty members in any educational institution to be managerial or supervisory employees solely because they participate in decisions with respect to courses, curriculum, personnel, budget, or other matters of educational policy.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Reproductive Health Equity Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the Peace Corps Act, the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, and other Federal laws covering armed forces personnel and dependents and Federal employees' health benefits to provide that services related to abortion be made available in the same manner as are other pregnancy-related services under federally funded programs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1985
Designates the period of October 1, 1985, through September 30, 1986, as the time to reflect on the achievements of the Peace Corps during its 25 years and on ways such programs might be used in the future. Authorizes and requests the President to proclaim this period as a time to honor Peace Corps volunteers and reaffirm the Nation's commitment to such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1985
Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act - Amends the Animal Welfare Act to revise the humane standards for animals transported in commerce. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate standards to govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of animals by dealers, research facilities, and exhibitors. Requires each research facility to establish an institutional animal study committee with sufficient expertise to assess the appropriateness of animal care and treatment in experimental research. Requires the committee at each facility to: (1) inspect at least semiannually all animal study areas and animal areas and animal facilities at the research facility; (2) file an inspection certification report of each inspection at the research facility; (3) notify the administrative representative of the research facility of any deficiencies; and (4) notify the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the funding Federal agency if such deficiencies remain uncorrected. Requires each research facility to provide for annual training in the humane treatment of animals for scientists, animal technicians, and other personnel involved with animal care and treatment in such facility. Directs the Secretary to establish an information service at the National Agricultural library to provide information on improved methods of animal experimentation, including: (1) employee training; (2) preventing unnecessary duplication of animal experimentation; (3) reducing or replacing animal use; and (4) minimizing pain and distress. Requires funding Federal agencies to revoke Federal support for a project if it is determined that conditions of animal care, treatment, or practice in a particular project have not been in compliance with standards promulgated under this Act. Requires the Secretary to inspect each research facility at least once each year. Requires such follow-up inspections as may be necessary until all deficiencies which may be found are corrected. Imposes penalties for the release of any confidential information or trade secrets by any member of an institutional animal committee. Increases penalties for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that no tax reforms or revisions should be enacted that reduce or limit current tax benefits to employers or employees for employee health care, life insurance, education assistance, group legal services, unemployment insurance and compensation, workers' compensation and disability programs, and pension benefits. Declares that the House reaffirms its commitment to provide vital life support programs through tax exemptions.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Pension Vesting, Integration, and Portability Act of 1985 - Title I: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise provisions relating to maximum age conditions under pension plans to provide for continued coverage for certain workers over the normal retirement age. Provides that pension plans may only exclude from participation, on the basis of age, an employee who has attained the normal retirement age under the plan if: (1) the plan is a defined benefit plan or a target benefit plan (as under current law); and (2) the employee's accrued benefit under the plan is greater than the normal retirement benefit to which the employee would be entitled at the normal retirement age if the employee commenced participation at the earliest possible entry age under the plan and served continuously until attaining the normal retirement age under the plan. Revises provisions relating to minimum vesting standards to reduce, from ten years to five years, the number of years of service which a pension plan participant must complete in order to earn a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of the participant's accrued benefit derived from employer contributions. Permits multiemployer pension plans to retain the ten-year minimum vesting standard if such plans meet certain conditions, including complete reciprocity for workers who move from one regional pension plan to another within the same industry. Repeals a certain "class year plan" rule. Permits participants with three (currently five) years of service to elect, within a specified period, to have their nonforfeitable percentage computed under the plan without regard to any plan amendment changing the vesting schedule. Revises minimum participation standards, minimum vesting standards, and benefit accrual requirements to provide for pension plan coverage of part-time workers. Revises the definition of "year of service," for purposes of minimum participation and vesting standards, to treat 500 to 1,000 hours of service per year by a part-time employee as one-half of a year of service. Provides that the date on which such employee completes such one-half of one year of service shall be the latest date until which the plan participation of such employee may be delayed. Includes service of at least 500 (currently 1,000) hours in determinations of years of plan participation, for purposes of benefit accrual requirements. Establishes minimum benefit rules for integrated pension plans. Requires such plans to offer a minimum benefit without taking into account contributions or benefits under specified provisions of the Social Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code, or any other Federal or State law. Sets forth formulas, based on specified percentages of employee compensation, for determining such minimum benefit in the case of: (1) an integrated defined benefit plan; and (2) an integrated defined contribution plan or an integrated simplified employee pension. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe necessary or appropriate regulations to carry out the purposes of such minimum benefit rules for integrated plans in any case in which the employer has two or more plans. Provides for distributions of accrued benefits less than $7,000 to portable pension accounts (individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities). Requires a pension plan to distribute a participant's nonforfeitable benefit to a portable pension account if: (1) the plan is a defined benefit plan, or an individual account plan subject to specified funding standards; (2) the present value, as of the date of separation from service, of such benefit is less than $7,000; and (3) the participant elects in writing, after receiving a required notice, to have such benefit distributed to such portable pension account in a distribution which is excluded from gross income under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe by regulation the manner and form in which such election is to be made. Requires the plan administrator, upon being informed by a participant that the participant wishes to make an election pursuant to these provisions, to provide notice to the participant of: (1) the present value, as of the date of separation, of the participant's nonforfeitable benefit (with such present value to be deemed equal to the actuarial equivalent, as of such date, of the normal form of benefit under the plan); (2) the amount of the participant's benefit on the date of the participant's retirement payable under the pension plan at normal retirement age expressed in the form of a single life annuity under a defined benefit plan or in the normal form of payment under an individual account plan; and (3) the additional tax (under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions as revised by this Act) on distributions from, or disqualification, of the portable pension account before the date on which the participant attains age 59 1/2. Title II: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code to 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise provisions relating to pension plans. Makes such revisions similar to those made to ERISA by title I of this Act with respect to: (1) continued coverage for certain workers over the normal retirement age; (2) a minimum vesting standard of five years of service (reduced from ten years), with the exception of multiemployer plans meeting certain conditions (including reciprocity); (3) repeal of the class year plan rule; (4) protection from changes in the vesting schedule for participants with three years of service; (5) coverage for part-time workers under minimum participation standards, minimum vesting standards, and benefit accrual requirements; (6) establishment of minimum benefit rules for integrated plans; and (7) distributions of accrued benefits to portable pension accounts. Revises provisions relating to additional tax on certain amounts included in gross income before age 59 1/2. Requires, in cases of early distributions or disqualification involving portable pension accounts to which accrued benefits from a pension plan have been distributed as provided under this Act, that the additional tax (for the taxable year in which the early distribution is received or the disqualification occurs) shall be equal to the amount of the early distribution, or of the disqualification, which is includible in gross income for such taxable year. Title III: Additional Provisions - Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) conduct a study of the feasibility and ramifications of requiring private employee pension benefit plans to provide cost-of-living adjustments to benefits payable under such plans; (2) compile data and analyze the effect inflation is having and may be expected to have on retirement benefits provided under such plans; and (3) submit study results, with recommendations, within two years after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
College Athlete Education and Protection Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny the deduction for a charitable contribution to an institution of higher education for use in the athletic program of such institution or to any other organization for use in supporting the athletic program of such institution unless for the 5-calendar-year period ending with the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the contribution is made at least 75 percent of the scholarship athletes ceasing to be students at such school during such period receive a bachelor's degree after the completion of not more than five academic years.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Prohibits any person from mining or using any natural resource situated in or originating from Namibia or otherwise removing any natural resource from Namibia without the permission of the United Nations Council for Namibia. Provides for enforcement of such prohibition. Directs the President to try to persuade other governments to adopt restrictions on activities affecting natural resources situated in or originating from Namibia until Namibia has achieved internationally recognized independence. Terminates this Act if: (1) the President certifies that Namibia has achieved internationally recognized independence and that legal authority for Namibia has been transferred from the United Nations Council for Namibia to the lawful government of Namibia; (2) the President submits that certification to the Congress; and (3) a law or joint resolution is enacted approving such certification. Declares that it is U.S. policy that any U.S. person that is sued for damages as provided in a specified United Nations decree relating to the protection of the natural resources of Namibia will receive no aid from the United States in defending against such suit and will receive no compensation from the United States for damages assessed or paid on account of such liability.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Family Economic Security Act of 1985 - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require each State to have in operation at any time and to carry out either a work incentive program under part C (Work Incentive Program) of title IV or an employment program demonstration project under part A (General Provisions) of title XI of such Act. Repeals time restriction limitations on demonstration projects. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make annual grants to each State to carry out special programs, projects, and experiments designed to reduce the dependency of AFDC individuals and families, including: (1) supported work programs for long-term adult AFDC recipients; (2) work experiments aimed at easing the transition to jobs in the private sector; and (3) other programs, projects, and experiments designed to reduce AFDC dependency. Provides that grants shall be made only on the basis of a plan submitted to the Secretary by a State and approved by the Secretary. Provides that a grant shall be in an amount ranging from two to seven percent of a State's Federal share under part A of title IV or title XI. Requires reports concerning such grants from a State to the Secretary. Permits a State to transfer up to ten percent of its grant for use in carrying out programs to prevent teenage pregnancies and to assist pregnant individuals and mothers of young children in achieving self-sufficiency. Requires a State to make monthly payments to each family with dependent children in an amount determined by subtracting, after the application of resource and disregard provisions, the family's monthly income from its monthly cash needs standard (equal to one-twelfth of the annual cash needs standard) or from its monthly payment standard (equal to one-twelfth of the annual payment standard). Requires a State to establish for any family with dependent children: (1) an annual cash needs standard; and (2) an annual payment standard specifying the amount of AFDC that the family would receive monthly under AFDC if it had no other income. Requires that, in the case of a family with no income other than AFDC (and reducing such income only by the applicable standard deduction specified by the Food Stamp Act of 1977), each of such standards when added to the total monthly allotments of food stamp coupons equal an amount that places the family at no less than a specified percentage of the poverty level. Provides that such percentage shall be 55 percent for 1986 and rise to 70 percent by 1991. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine the poverty level for each State. Provides for increases in the Federal AFDC contribution to States increasing AFDC benefits. Revises provisions relating to dependent children of unemployed parents. Requires a State to make AFDC payments with respect to dependent children in two-parent families not otherwise eligible. Authorizes a State, with respect to making such payments, to establish appropriate work requirements and related registration and training requirements. Requires State plans to provide that at least one such parent: (1) register for manpower services, training, and employment, if either parent is required to register; and (2) participate in some State job search, training, or work program. Sets forth requirements relating to the provision day care and the payment of the minimum wage. Provides that the Federal AFDC matching rate shall be 75 percent with respect to families that include one or more dependent children. Directs the Secretary to make grants to assist States and localities to establish and carry out programs to: (1) reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies in AFDC families; and (2) help pregnant individuals and mothers of young children in such families, who might otherwise become long-term AFDC recipients, to achieve self sufficiency. Requires applications to be submitted for such grants. Sets forth program objectives and requirements. Provides that a grant shall be in an amount equal to two percent of a State's Federal share under part A of title IV or title XI. Requires reports concerning such grants from a State to the Secretary. Permits a State to transfer up to ten percent of its grant for use in encouraging programs to reduce welfare dependency. Authorizes appropriations. Redefines the term "aid to families with dependent children" so as to include a pregnant woman in any case where the child would be eligible for AFDC in the month of payment if such child had been born and was living with the mother in that month. Disregards the first $100 of unearned income, including payment of benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of such Act, unemployment benefits, and child support payments. Requires a State to periodically reevaluate its AFDC needs standards. Requires a State to provide Medicaid eligibility for one year to an AFDC family following the family's removal from the State's AFDC plan. Permits a State to provide an additional year of Medicaid eligibility. Increases the amount of assets which a family may possess and still receive AFDC. Directs the Secretary to prescribe the type and allowable amounts of resources a family may own while eligible for AFDC. Prohibits including as such resources a home, burial plots, certain real property, and certain licensed vehicles. Revises AFDC earned income disregards. Excludes the first $100 and one-fourth of other earnings. Limits the monthly child care disregard to $320 for a family. Directs the Secretary to: (1) notify all recipients of and applicants for benefits under title II of the Act of the availability of the supplemental security income program (title XVI of the Social Security Act); (2) notify all recipients of and applicants for SSI or AFDC of the availability of food stamps; (3) notify unemployment compensation benefit recipients of the availability of AFDC; and (4) notify food stamp recipients of the availability of AFDC. Increases the SSI benefit. Prohibits the reduction in OASDI widow's and widower's benefits which may occur after a beneficiary attains age 80. Provides for a Federal matching rate of 30 percent for SSI State supplementary payment increases made after May 22, 1985. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) provide for an increase in the earned income credit; (2) provide for the disregard of any needs-based governmental benefit in determining support and maintenance of a household; (3) provide for the disregard of any refund of Federal income taxes made because of the earned income credit for purposes of determining eligibility for or the amount of benefits under any Federal or State program which receives Federal funds; (4) provide for cost-of-living adjustments in the earned income credit; (5) extend and increase the targeted jobs credit; (6) include food stamp recipients as members of targeted groups; and (7) provide for an increase in the zero bracket amount for heads of households for taxable years beginning after 1985. Requires a State's Medicaid plan to cover SSI recipents.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to limit eligibility for certain block grants to States which require local firearms registration and also have in effect criminal penalties for the removal or alteration of the importer's or manufacturer's serial number from a firearm.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Prohibits the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution from using any Smithsonian Institution funds to make, directly or indirectly: (1) any extension of credit to the Government of South Africa; (2) any extension of credit to, or investment in, any corporation or other business enterprise that is owned (in whole or part) or controlled by the Government of South Africa; and (3) any extension of credit or investment in South Africa. Requires the Board, within one year after the effective date of this Act, to liquidate any such extensions of credit or investments which are in existence on such date. Makes such requirement inapplicable to any extension of credit or investment for which a contract or other legally binding agreement is entered into before the effective date of this Act. Terminates such prohibition and requirements imposed by this Act upon approval by law of any report submitted to the Congress by the Board which contains a determination that the abolition of apartheid has taken place in South Africa and the reasons for such determination.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Designates the United States Post Office Building to be constructed at Florence and Central Avenues, Los Angeles, California, as the Leslie Nelson Shaw, Sr., General Mail Facility of the United States Postal Service.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add a new title XII, University-High School Partnerships. (Redesignates the current title XII as title XIII.) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for the new title XII, to encourage partnerships between institutions of higher education and secondary schools serving low-income students in order to support programs that: (1) improve the academic skills of secondary school students; (2) increase their opportunity to continue a program of education after high school; and (3) improve their prospects of employment after high school. Requires, for purposes of eligibility for a title XII grant, an institution of higher education and a local education agency to enter into a written partnership agreement. Allows the partnership to include businesses, labor organizations, professional associations, community-based organizations, or other private or public agencies or associations. Requires all partners to sign the agreement. Requires the agreement to include a listing of all participants in the partnership, a description of their responsibilities, and a listing of the resources to be contributed by them. Directs the Secretary of Education to reserve 65 percent of title XII funds for programs operating during the regular school year and 35 percent for summer programs. Limits the amount of such a grant to between $250,000 to $1,000,000. Allows the partnership to use the grant for programs that use college students to tutor high school students and that improve high school students' basic academic skills, their understanding of specified subjects, opportunity to continue a program of education after graduation, and their prospects for employment after graduation. Directs the Secretary, in making such grants, to give preference to: (1) programs which will serve predominantly low-income communities; (2) partnerships which will run programs during the regular school year and the summer; and (3) programs which will serve educationally disadvantaged students, potential dropouts, pregnant adolescent and teen parents, or the gifted and talented. Sets forth grant application requirements. Limits the Federal share of the cost of the project to no more than 70 percent in the first year, 60 percent in the second year, and 50 percent in the third year and any subsequent year.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Permits the Archivist of the United States to make available for public use all records of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the 94th and 95th Congresses other than those voted to be kept secret or confidential. Requires the guidelines governing disclosure of such records to be those used by the General Services Administration for the records of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1985
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that a specified prohibition against certification of labor organizations representing both "guards" and other employees, for collective bargaining unit purposes, is to be applied only in the case of "plant guards."
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1985
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage for anesthesia services and related care provided by a registered nurse anesthetist.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1985
Authorizes the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to establish a monument on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Subjects the Fraternity's design and plans for the monument to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission. Directs the Secretary to: (1) select a site for the monument with the approval of the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission; (2) prohibit its construction unless sufficient funds are available for its completion; and (3) provide for the maintenance of the monument upon its completion. Provides that U.S. funds may not be used to establish the monument. Directs that the authority to establish the monument is contingent upon its construction beginning within five years.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Farm Policy Reform Act of 1985 - Title I: Agricultural Commodity Supply Management - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949, effective for the 1986 through 1999 crops, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct referendums (August of 1985, 1989, 1993, and 1997) to determine by majority vote if a mandatory supply management program shall be in effect for the succeeding four-year program period. Provides that the Secretary shall determine the farm program for the succeeding four-year period if such referendum fails. Provides for 36-month loans at rates of 70 percent of parity for 1986 with two-percent annual increments rising to 90 percent of parity for 1996 through 1999. Eliminates target prices. Directs the Secretary to proclaim a national marketing quota (for each commodity) for each of the 1986 through 1999 crops based on domestic and export demands, and food aid and carryover requirements. Directs the Secretary to proclaim a national acreage allotment for each of the 1986 through 1999 crop years. Requires producers who earn more than 50 percent of their gross income from nonfarm sources to set aside an additional ten percent of eligible crop acreage. Permits the Secretary to award bonus acres if the allotment request totals do not exceed the national marketing quota. Directs the Secretary to issue marketing certificates for each commodity at the same time acreage allotments are assigned. Bases such certificates on the higher of county average yield or farm yield. Permits adjustments. Permits excess production to be: (1) used for on-farm use; (2) stored and marketed in the subsequent year; (3) donated for specified foreign food assistance programs; and (4) sold to the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) for 50 percent of the loan level. Requires producers to apply conservation measures (including haying and grazing or wildlife use) to set-aside acres. Directs the Secretary to establish a farmers disaster reserve (in lieu of crop insurance) for each commodity for the 1986 through 1999 crop years. Requires producers to contribute a portion of their production to such reserve. Provides that in the event of a disaster, producers will receive 90 percent of their marketing certificate amount reduced by actual production, not to exceed an annual value of $360,000. Permits the use of CCC stocks to supplement insufficient reserve stocks. Amends the National Wool Act to extend the wool and mohair program through 1990. Suspends marketing quota, certificate, and other specified provisions of current law with regard to the 1986 through 1999 wheat and feed grain crops. Title II: Agricultural Credit - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to limit Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) guaranteed ownership and operating loans to ten percent of such total loans. Requires farm recordkeeping training for limited resource borrowers. Limits direct operating loans to any individual to $200,000, except that no more than 25 percent of the funds may be used for loans in excess of $100,000. Limits similar guaranteed operating loans to $400,000, except that no more than 25 percent of guaranty authority may be for loans in excess of $200,000. Limits total individual indebtedness to $500,000. Revises FmHA emergency loan provisions, including: (1) making such loans more family-farm oriented; (2) reducing the individual loan ceiling; and (3) making such loans available only to persons unable to secure credit elsewhere. Provides for loan (principal and interest) and foreclosure deferrals for up to five years, for the period 1986 through 1999. Sets forth loan default provisions. Expands county committee membership to five, of which three must be farmer-elected. Sets forth time limits for approval of FmHA loans and loan guarantees. Establishes an appeals procedure for FmHA loan applications, including: (1) written notice of an adverse decision; and (2) opportunities for informal and formal hearings. Limits the leasing or sale of FmHA-held land to persons who are eligible for FmHA ownership or operating loans. Sets forth a priority order for such dispositions, with first priority for limited resource borrowers. Directs the Secretary to sell to such borrower at a price which reflects the average expected income from such land. Authorizes the Secretary to make or insure loans to assist borrowers. Directs the Secretary to conduct an ongoing search to identify, publicize, and transfer such farmland to eligible borrowers. Requires the Secretary to furnish borrowers with loan summary statements at least once a year. Increases from 20 percent to 25 percent the amount of FmHA ownership and operating loans for limited resource borrowers. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study of the appropriateness of the FmHA "Farm and Home Plan"; and (2) report within 120 days to the appropriate congressional committees. Title III: Agricultural Exports and Imports - Subtitle A: Agricultural Exports - Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (Public Law 480) to permit local currency sales to developing countries with a per capita gross national product of $500 or less. Authorizes grants to private entities for projects to improve storage and marketing or expand private enterprise. Requires using at least $500,000,000 annually for FY 1985 through 1988 for an intermediate export credit program. Increases minimum food relief tonnage under title II of P.L. 480 for FY 1985 through 1990. Requires at least 60 percent of such commodities to be in the form of processed and fortified foods. Authorizes multiyear agreements with nonprofit voluntary agencies. Requires such agencies to maintain an operating reserve of at least 15 percent in disaster or drought-prone areas. Directs the Secretary to maintain a processed product and fortified grain reserve. Increases famine relief funding for: (1) CCC reimbursement; and (2) foreign currency purchases. Directs the President, to the extent possible, to enter into multilateral agreements with other food exporting nations to aid needy nations. Subtitle B: Agricultural Imports - Directs the Secretary to utilize existing law to minimize agricultural and food imports. Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require country of origin labeling of imported meat. Requires eating establishments serving imported meat to so inform patrons. Title IV: Soil and Water Conservation - Subtitle A: Soil and Water Conservation - Amends the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act to direct the Secretary to establish a training program for Soil Conservation Service personnel. Directs the Secretary to: (1) promote energy and water conservation through dry land farming; and (2) strengthen the role of local and state committees. Requires producers to use agricultural conservation program payments and grants in accordance with a conservation plan approved by the local soil and water conservation district or by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance. Directs the Secretary to enter into ten-year conservation reserve program contracts to promote soil and water conservation on erosion-prone land. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into five-year contracts to reduce water use from underground aquifers to irrigate land. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Highly Erodible Land Conservation - Makes any person who cultivates crops on highly erodible land ineligible for five years for: (1) price supports; (2) farm storage facility loans; (3) crop insurance; (4) disaster payments; or (5) specified other agricultural loans. Exempts crops planted: (1) on land cultivated from 1981 through 1985; (2) before enactment of this Act; or (3) under specified conservation systems. Directs the Secretary to: (1) use local agricultural committees to help administer such program; and (2) complete certain soil capability surveys as soon as practicable. Title V: Food Assistance Programs - Subtitle A: Food Stamp Program - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to base food stamp allotments on the projected average cost of the thrifty food plan for the coming (as of October 1) year. Raises the earned income deduction from 18 percent to 20 percent. Separates and raises the maximum dependent care deduction ($160) and excess shelter deduction ($175). Permits family income to be calculated prospectively or retrospectively. Authorizes supplemental allotments to a household that experiences a monthly income loss of $100 or more. Increases resource limitations. Waives nonliquid asset requirements for up to four months in areas of high unemployment or high farm foreclosures. Requires States to conduct food stamp public information programs. Authorizes food stamp program appropriations through FY 1989. Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Programs - Amends the National School Lunch Act to permit certain private nonprofit agencies to participate in the children's summer food service program. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase the school breakfast program subsidy by six cents per meal. Requires the Secretary to review and revise the nutrition requirements for such meals. Subtitle C: Food Distribution Program - Amends the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to extend the commodity supplemental food program through FY 1989. Amends the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to extend the temporary emergency food assistance program through 1989. Subtitle D: Effective Date - Makes the provisions of this title effective upon enactment, unless otherwise provided for.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1985
Gifted and Talented Children's Education Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to add this Act as part A (Gifted and Talented Children) of title IX (Additional Programs) of ESEA. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for programs for gifted and talented children. Directs the Secretary of Education to reserve a specified portion of such funds for discretionary programs. Requires that the remainder of such appropriations be available for State programs. Sets forth provisions for State programs. Directs the Secretary to make grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) for the Federal share of the costs of planning, developing, operating, and improving programs to meet the educational needs of gifted and talented children at the preschool, elementary, and secondary levels. Permits such programs to include: (1) inservice training of personnel to teach such children; (2) demonstration programs designed to develop special techniques for teaching such children, and assessments of such programs; and (3) State leadership programs to assist in extending programs for such children throughout the State. Directs the Secretary to allot such funds in accordance with specified provisions. Requires SEA applications for such grants to contain specified assurances, including the assurance that appropriate consideration will be given to the particular educational needs of disadvantaged gifted and talented children. Prohibits an SEA from reserving more than ten percent of grant funds for program administration, technical assistance, coordination, and statewide planning. Requires an SEA to distribute, on a competitive basis, at least 90 percent of grant funds to local educational agencies (LEAs) which apply, with due regard for the quality of the proposed activities. Requires an SEA to use at least 50 percent of grant funds for programs and projects which include a component for the identification and education of disadvantaged gifted and talented children from low-income families. Permits use of grant funds for instructional equipment only if such equipment will enhance the program or project. Prohibits SEA approval of an LEA application unless the needs of children in nonprofit private elementary and secondary schools have been taken into account. Requires the SEA to provide technical assistance for proposals and programs of LEAs which are unable to compete due to smaller size or lack of financial resources. Requires that an opportunity for a hearing be afforded before the Secretary may disapprove an application which does not meet specified requirements. Sets forth provisions for discretionary programs relating to education of gifted and talented children. Authorizes the Secretary, from amounts reserved for discretionary programs, to pay the Federal share of the costs of grants or contracts to SEAs, LEAs, institutions of higher education, and other public or private organizations for: (1) leadership training of personnel engaged in the education of gifted and talented children; (2) an information clearinghouse; and (3) research, evaluation, and related activities. Sets forth application requirements for discretionary program grants and contracts. Applies specified ESEA requirements relating to private school pupil and teacher participation in such discretionary programs, unless such requirements cannot be legally met in the State. Sets forth provisions for State allotments of appropriations for programs for gifted and talented children. Directs the Secretary to allot up to one percent of such appropriations, in accordance with their respective needs, among: (1) Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands; (2) programs in schools operated for Indian children by the Department of the Interior; and (3) programs in overseas dependent schools of the Department of Defense. Directs the Secretary to allot the remainder among applicant States on the basis of numbers of children aged five through 17, with a $50,000 minimum allotment to each State. Sets forth provisions for reallotment of any State allotment exceeding the amount a State needs and will be able to use in a fiscal year. Directs the Secretary to designate an administrative unit within the Office of Education to administer and coordinate programs for gifted and talented children and youth. Provides that any Indian tribe or Hawaiian organization which operates schools for its children shall be deemed an LEA for purposes of this Act. Makes the Federal share for any fiscal year 90 percent, but 100 percent for programs and projects involving participation of private school students.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
National Advanced Technician Training Act - Directs the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to carry out a three-year national advanced technician training program under which accredited community and technical colleges, using matching non-Federal funds, will provide training in technical competencies in strategic fields. Requires such program to include emphasis on-the-job training intermixed with technical occupational training. Requires such program to place special recruiting emphasis on: (1) those who need retraining or upgrading to retain their jobs; (2) those who are unemployed, especially workers dislocated by plant closings and technological change; and (3) those who have recently completed high school or left high school prior to graduation. Requires the Director, in carrying out such program, to: (1) award grants on a competitive basis to accredited community and technical colleges which possess the demonstrated ability to provide competency-based occupational training; and (2) work with the Nation's network of community and technical colleges to establish and maintain, at NSF or by contract, a readily accessible inventory of advanced technician training programs which are serving public and private employers and addressing the changing workforce demands of emerging technology. Requires each community or technical college which is awarded such a grant to provide an associate degree training program in designated advanced-technology occupational fields. Sets the maximum grant award at $500,000 per year. Requires the Director, in order to assure that the program is consistent with the needs of industries, to appoint a 15-year National Advisory Council on Advanced Technician Training, which shall advise the Director on program goals and implementation, review program effectiveness, and report annually to the Director and the Congress. Requires the Council and the Director to submit to the Congress an annual report on the program, together with: (1) a program evaluation; (2) a catalog of the community and technical college programs identified by the required inventory; and (3) a recommendation on the feasibility of program expansion. Requires the national program to give special emphasis to those associate degree advanced-technician training programs which: (1) include flexibility in scheduling in order to accommodate working people and parents; and (2) take steps to meets the adaptive and training needs of handicapped young people and adults. Requires that funds appropriated under this Act be used to establish, strengthen, and expand the advanced technician training capabilities of community and technical colleges. Includes among the uses of such funds: (1) associate degree and short-cycle training program developments; (2) faculty development; (3) the development of instructional materials; (4) the lease or purchase of state-of-the-art instrumentation; (5) personnel exchanges among such colleges, the private sector, and government; (6) the development of cooperative training programs with business, industry, labor, and government; and (7) the promotion of private sector contributions to program costs, training sites, and work experience opportunities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Medicare Vision Reform Act of 1985 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for all services provided by a doctor of optometry. (Current law permits coverage for optometric services only if related to the condition of aphakia). Requires payment for optometric services to be made on the basis of an assignment.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Comprehensive Alzheimer's Assistance, Research, and Education Act of 1985 - Title I : Amendment to the Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Alzheimer's Education Program to: (1) coordinate education and training programs of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Veterans Administration, other Federal entities, State and local governments, and private organizations; (2) establish an information clearinghouse; (3) provide information to health care providers, organizations, patients, and the general public; and (4) provide technical assistance to States and public and private organizations in the collection and dissemination of information. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 for such purposes. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States to plan, establish, and operate programs to: (1) coordinate the development and operation of diagnostic, treatment, care management, respite care, legal counseling, and education services provided by public and private organizations within the State; (2) provide respite care to patients with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders; (3) provide information to health care providers, organizations, and the general public on treatment and related services for patients and their families; (4) coordinate the development and operation of continuing education for health care providers on the diagnosis, treatment, and care management of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders; (5) review State policies on the financing and reimbursement of health care costs for such patients; (6) review State nursing home regulations as they apply to such patients; and (7) coordinate with the National Alzheimer's Education Program. Limits Federal grants for such programs to the lesser of one half the cost or $1,000,000. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Directs the Secretary to establish a plan for a research program for the study of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Directs the Secretary to make grants and enter into contracts with public and private entities for ten to 20 Alzheimer's disease research centers. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Provides for the recovery from Alaska of Federal grants provided under the Public Health Service Act if within 20 years from the date of completion of a medical facility, such facility ceases to be a publicly owned facility operated for the care or treatment of patients under Alaska's mental health program. Title II: Medicare and Medicaid Research, Demonstrations, and Waivers - Directs the Secretary to conduct research, waiver, and demonstration projects under the Medicare and Medicaid provisions of the Social Security Act to determine the: (1) coverage of alternative methods of health care for patients with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders; (2) coverage of nursing home care; and (3) appropriate reimbursement levels for nursing homes with such patients. Title III: Report - Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress within two years after the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Designates the week beginning on April 13, 1986, as National Garden Week. Urges the wearing of garden flowers during that week as a symbol of appreciation for the contributions of the Nation's gardeners.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
Jesse Gray Housing Act - Title I: Housing Provisions - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a program for the construction of 500,000 new dwelling units in public housing during each of FY 1987 through 1996. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants to public housing agencies; and (2) enter into contracts with public housing agencies for annual contributions. Limits the aggregate amount of budget authority obligated under such contracts entered into in any fiscal year. Provides a formula for the determination of the applicable amounts of such grants and contributions for FY 1987 through 1995 based on the consumer price index. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1987 through 1996. Requires the Secretary to make available financial assistance for public housing projects, especially projects that the Secretary determines would likely have been subject to demolition or other disposition. Increases the aggregate amount of budget authority permitted for contracts for annual contributions by the amount necessary for the revitalization of 100,000 public housing units in each of FY 1987 through 1996. Prohibits the Secretary from approving an application by a public housing agency for permission to demolish or dispose of all or part of a public housing project. (Currently, such approval is permitted if the Secretary makes certain determinations.) Requires each public housing agency to carry out a program of job training and employment of unemployed individuals residing in the vicinity of public housing projects in connection with any construction and revitalization of public housing. Directs each such program to give preference to such individuals who reside in public housing. Gives percentage guidelines of employment positions and job training positions for such individuals. Reduces lower income rent contribution amounts under the National Housing Act, the United States Housing Act of 1937, the Housing Act of 1949, the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, and the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983. Excludes welfare or social security cost-of-living adjustments from such adjusted income determinations. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress a comprehensive report concerning proposed limitations on Federal housing assistance to ensure that Federal housing assistance funds benefit only lower income families. Title II: Tax Imposed on Employers of Ten or More Employees - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a wage-based excise tax on employers of ten or more employees. Establishes the National Housing Trust Fund in the Treasury to be used for grants and annual contributions for the construction of public housing. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit into the Fund an amount equal to the taxes received as a result of such excise tax.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1985
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal honoring George Gershwin to his sister, Frances Gershwin Godowsky, and a gold medal honoring Ira Gershwin to his widow, Lenore Gershwin. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to make technical corrections and other revisions related to the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (REA). Sets forth amendments related to REA modifications of minimum participation and vesting standards for employee benefit plans. Requires class-year plans, in general, to provide that a participant's rights to benefits derived from employer contributions for any plan year are nonforfeitable not later than when such participant has performed services for the employer as of the close of each of five plan years (whether or not consecutive after the plan year for which the contributions were made), but allows for such plans to provide for forfeiture of such rights if the participant has not performed such services as of the close of each of any five consecutive plan years after such plan year (i.e. a five-year break in service). Requires, for purposes of determining whether any distribution which becomes payable to the recipient on account of the employee's separation from service is a lump sum distribution, that the balance to the credit of the employee be determined without regard to any increase in vesting which may occur if the employee is reemployed by the employer. Provides for recapture of such reduction in tax, in certain cases. Provides, under repayment requirements relating to withdrawals of mandatory contributions, that a defined contribution plan may provide that such a repayment must be made before a participant has a period of five consecutive one-year breaks in service (currently any one-year break in service). Reduces from 25 years to 21 years the age which plan participants may be required to attain for purposes of simplified employment pensions. Sets forth amendments related to REA requirements of joint and survivor annuity and preretirement survivor annuity. Provides that qualified preretirement survivor annuity rules apply in the case of death before the annuity starting date. Provides that qualified joint and survivor annuity rules apply in the case of death on or after the annuity starting date. Provides that the transferee plan rule applies only with respect to: (1) transfers made after December 31, 1984; and (2) the transferred assets if the plan separately accounts for assets and any income therefrom. Requires spousal consent for: (1) using plan assets as security for loans; and (2) changes in designations. Provides that, in the case of a participant hired after age 35, the period for giving notice to the participant of the right to waive a qualified preretirement survivor annuity is a reasonable period after the date of hire. Makes certain clerical amendments. Sets forth amendments related to special rules for assignments in divorce, etc., proceedings (which REA added to IRC and ERISA). Provides that such special rules for determining the taxability of benefits subject to a qualified domestic relations order apply only to distributions made to an alternate payee who is the spouse or the former spouse of the participant. Specifies that the 18-month period during which benefits may be deferred begins with the date on which the first payment would be required to be made under the domestic relations order if there were no deferral. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations to coordinate specified requirements (and regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor thereunder) affecting qualified domestic relations orders with the overall qualification requirements. Waives certain distribution requirements (which prohibit payment of benefits before termination of employment) if a plan makes payments which are worth $3,500 or less to any alternate payee pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order. Sets forth amendments related to the requirement under IRC, as amended by REA, that a written explanation be given to recipients of distributions eligible for rollover. Defines "eligible rollover distribution" for purposes of such requirement. Sets forth amendments related to provisions, under ERISA as amended by REA, for the treatment of certain plan amendments as reducing benefits. Sets forth amendments related to the REA transitional rule for requirement of joint and survivor annuity and preretirement survivor annuity. Sets forth amendments related to REA provisions for treatment of certain participants who perform services on or after January 1, 1976.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Authorizes the President to call a White House Conference on Library and Information Services, to be held not later than 1989, to develop recommendations for improvement of such services and their public use. Requires that the Conference be planned and conducted by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences. Authorizes the Librarian of Congress, the Director of the National Library of Medicine, and the Director of the National Agricultural Library, upon request, to detail personnel to the Commission. Requires the Conference to submit a final report to the President within 120 days following its close. Directs that the final report be made public, and within 90 days after receipt by the President, transmitted to the Congress with recommendations. Establishes an advisory committee to assist in planning and conducting the Conference. Includes among its appointed members the Secretary of Education and the Librarian of Congress. Authorizes appropriations as necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the public schools of the United States should be encouraged to include a study of the Holocaust in their history curricula.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should cancel his planned visit to the Bitburg Cemetery out of respect for the millions who suffered and died at the hands of the SS and the Nazis.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should take no action that will honor the memories of Nazi soldiers during his planned trip to the Federal Republic of Germany.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Food Assistance and Africa Agriculture Act of 1985 - Title I: Authorization of Appropriations - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for: (1) the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and (2) the International Fund for Agricultural Development for its Special Program for Sub-Saharan Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification for each of FY 1986 through 1989. Title II: Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1986 - Makes appropriations for FY 1986 for: (1) expenses for agricultural commodities supplied in connection with dispositions abroad pursuant to the famine relief provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954; and (2) the U.S. contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development and for the Fund's Special Program for Sub-Saharan Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification.
![Official portrait of Rep. Clay, William (Bill) [D-MO-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000488_200.jpg)