United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
United States - Mexico Good Neighbor Employment Act of 1981 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Attorney General to establish a program for the nonimmigrant admission of Mexican nationals as temporary workers in the United States. Provides that: (1) the Attorney General shall establish annual and monthly quotas for temporary worker visas based on the chronological order of application; (2) such temporary services or labor shall not exceed 180 days per year; (3) such visas shall not limit the geographic area or employment within which an alien may work unless specific restrictions are requested by the Secretary of Labor in order to protect domestic workers; (4) an alien who violates the 180-day visa limitation or any imposed geographic restriction shall be ineligible for another temporary visa for five years; and (5) an alien who enters the United States illegally shall be ineligible for obtaining a temporary work visa for ten years. Excludes such temporary Mexican workers from the definition of "immigrant" for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Includes such workers within the category of aliens whose nonimmigrant status may not be adjusted to that of an immigrant. Prohibits the Attorney General from consenting to the reapplication for admission of any such workers whose 180-day limitation has been exhausted. Authorizes the Secretary of State to establish and expand United States consulates in Mexico in order to implement such temporary worker program. Directs the Secretary of Labor to make the nature of such program known to Mexican nationals residing in the United States. Requires the Attorney General to report semiannually to Congress regarding the temporary worker visa program. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should establish with Mexico an advisory commission to advise the Attorney General with regard to such temporary worker program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 to prohibit the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from providing housing assistance for the benefit of any alien unless such alien is a U.S. resident and either admitted for permanent residence or lawfully present in the United States under specified conditions (including admission as an asylee or a refugee, or because his or her deportation has been withheld).
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Amends the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977 to provide that provisions of such Act shall not apply to: (1) any surface sand or gravel, stone, or clay mine; or (2) any surface structure or road, if constructed by employees not engaged in mining.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Small Business Tax Relief Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit recognition on the gain from the sale or exchange of an unincorporated trade or business prior to the time that the taxpayer attains age 55 by providing that such gain shall be recognized only to the extent that it exceeds the cost of reinvesting in replacement property for another small business venture. Provides for the taxation of such gain, after age 55, as ordinary income according to the ten year averaging rules applicable to lump sum distributions from employee benefit plans. Increases the additional first year depreciation allowance for small businesses. Permits a taxpayer election to amortize over a 36 month period expenses for depreciable property which is acquired to put a small business in compliance with Federal regulations and which does not have any economic usefulness for the business. Exempts domestic international sales corporations (DISC) which have an adjusted taxable income of $1,000,000 or less from the limitations on deferral of base period export gross receipts which are applicable to larger corporations. Permits businesses with gross receipts of less than $1,000,000 to elect the cash method of accounting in reporting income. Allows a credit or refund to employers of their proportionate share of excess social security taxes paid on behalf of employees who were employed by two or more employers during the taxable year. Permits an income tax credit of $5 for each form or document which a small business is required to file pursuant to Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to permit local distribution companies to provide natural gas service to residential customers for use in outdoor lighting fixtures installed and receiving natural gas before the enactment of such Act. Requires each local distribution company, in accordance with rules established by the Secretary of Energy, to: (1) periodically inform its customers of the amount of natural gas consumed by outdoor lighting; and (2) report such information method to the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Directs the Postal Service to submit to Congress (rather than to the Postal Rate Commission) any proposed change in the nature of postal service which would have nationwide impact. Requires any statement of proposed change so submitted to include an estimate of the impact of such change upon the public, business mail users, service levels and postal finances. Provides that no proposed change shall become effective if either House of Congress adopts a resolution disapproving it within 60 days after it is submitted to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Higher Education Tuition Tax Credit Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer an income tax credit for 25 percent of the expenses paid for the college or post-secondary vocational education of the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse or dependents. Sets forth maximum dollar amounts allowable as a credit for calendar years 1981 and 1982, after which the credit expires. Excludes graduate students from eligibility for the credit. Requires the individual for whom the tuition tax credit is allowed by this Act to be a full-time student during any four months of the calendar year or a part-time student during any eight months of the calendar year. Excludes from the definition of "expenses of higher education" any amounts paid for books, supplies, and equipment for courses of instruction or meals, lodging, transportation, and other living expenses. Forbids any construction of this Act as granting the Government additional authority to examine the books or activities of any church school except to the extent necessary to determine whether such school is an eligible educational institution. Requires that any amount received by the taxpayer as a tuition tax credit be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility of the taxpayer for Federal, State, or local educational assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1981
Savings and Retirement Income Incentive Act of 1981 - Amends the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980 to make permanent the income tax exclusion for dividend and interest income. Increases such tax exclusion for persons over age 65 to $500 ($1,000 for joint returns). Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase to $2,000 the amount of the income tax deduction for contributions to individual retirement accounts. Eliminates the prohibition against certain pension plan participants (e.g. government and military personnel) from making deductible contributions to individual retirement accounts. Increases the amount of nondeductible contributions which an individual may make to an individual retirement account in a taxable year and over such individual's lifetime. Permits contributors to an individual retirement account to withdraw from such an account up to $10,000, without tax penalty, in order to purchase a first home or finance the higher education of a dependent child. Allows an income tax deduction for voluntary employee contributions to tax-qualified employer pension and annuity plans.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Prisoner of War Health-Care Benefits Act of 1981 - Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to establish an advisory committee to assess new medical and other information on former prisoners of war (POW's). Requires that such committee include former POW's of World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam era and individuals who are recognized authorities in certain fields of medicine. Directs the committee to submit a biennial report to the Administrator on its activities. Reduces from six months to 60 days the internment period after which it may be presumed that a POW has suffered certain diseases. Makes POW's with the disease of psychosis manifest to a degree of ten percent presumptively eligible for wartime disability benefits (presently such psychosis must have occurred within two years of separation from service). Entitles POW's of not less than 60 days' internment during World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, or the Vietnam era to hospital, nursing home, and domiciliary care benefits. Directs the Administrator to prescribe regulations and furnish medical services for any disability on an outpatient or ambulatory basis to such POW's. Includes veterans held in captive status due to the seizure of the United States Embassy in Iran among those veterans eligible for educational assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Capital Cost Recovery Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes capital cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) buildings and their structural components, ten years; (2) tangible property, five years; and (3) automobiles, taxis, and light-duty trucks (up to $100,000), three years. Permits calculation of the investment tax credit for such property without regard to the useful life of the property. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Permits a taxpayer to deduct less than the full allowance for capital cost recovery in any taxable year. Permits a carryover to succeeding taxable years of any unused depreciation amounts. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Treats amounts claimed as the capital cost recovery of noncorporate lessors as an item of tax preference for purposes of the minimum tax. Adopts as an accounting practice the "half year convention" under which investments eligible for capital cost recovery treatment or the investment tax credit which are made at any time during the taxable year are deemed to be made in the middle of such year.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Armed Forces Education Assistance Act of 1981 - Establishes an Armed Forces Educational Assistance Program for persons who enter military service after September 30, 1981, and serve on active duty for three years or more. Sets forth a schedule of educational assistance entitlement for such veterans as follows: (1) for service of 36 consecutive months but less than 48 consecutive months and an agreement to serve three years in the Ready Reserve, 18 months of assistance; (2) for service of 48 consecutive months but less than 72 consecutive months and an agreement to serve four years in the Ready Reserve, 36 months of assistance; and (3) for service of 72 consecutive months, 36 months of assistance. Allows an eligible veteran who has served on active duty for 16 years by September 30, 1987, to transfer his or her educational entitlement to spouse or children in such manner as prescribed by the Administrator concerned and under limitations set forth in this Act. Makes such veterans eligible for educational assistance for the six-year period following their discharge or release date. Sets forth procedures extending any applicable time period for such veterans who are prevented from initiating or completing a program of education under certain circumstances. Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay tuition costs and a subsistence allowance to eligible veterans in the program. Terminates the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance program after September 30, 1983. Requires the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to submit a joint report to the Congress, not later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act, on plans for implementing the educational assistance provided in such Act. Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to the Congress semiannually on the effect of such program on the number and quality of individuals entering the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to submit to Congress all of the questions to be included in any quinquennial census of: (1) manufacturers, mineral industries, and other businesses; (2) agriculture; or (3) governments. Prohibits the Secretary from including in any such census or in the decennial census of the population any question which is not submitted to Congress, or which both Houses of Congress disapprove by concurrent resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires the rate of wages for workers employed on public buildings by contractors to be based upon the prevailing wages for corresponding classes of workers employed on similar projects in the same area.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Authorizes the President to present on behalf of the Congress specially struck gold medals to fifty-three individuals held hostage in the United States Embassy in Iran. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) strike fifty-three gold medals with suitable emblems, devices and inscriptions; and (2) coin and sell bronze duplicates of such medals. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Defines "person" to include the unborn for the purpose of the right to life guarantee. Makes such amendment inapplicable to laws permitting medical procedures required to prevent the death of the mother.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits the total amount of money expended by the United States in any fiscal year from exceeding the total amount of revenue received by the United States during such fiscal year, except in time of war as declared by the Congress. Allows the suspension of the amendment by a joint resolution approved by a vote of three-fifths of the Members of each House of the Congress and approved and signed by the President, or by a vote of two-thirds of the Members of each House of the Congress. Requires tax rates to be reduced to offset the effects of inflation. Establishes a procedure for the approval of bills or joint resolutions affecting taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Family Enterprise Estate and Gift Tax Equity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the unified credit against the estate and gift taxes from $47,000 to $155,800 by specified annual increments through 1985. Increases from $175,000 to $500,000, by specified annual increments through 1985, the minimum gross estate requirement for filing of a return. Repeals the existing limitations on the marital deduction for gift and estate taxes. Increases from $3,000 to $6,000 the annual gift tax exclusion. Qualifies estates of decedents who were disabled or retired for the special valuation of certain farms based on use if such decedents materially participated in the operation of the farm for five out of eight years preceding the year in which they became disabled or eligible for disability benefits, under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Permits the spouse of a decedent to use such valuation if the spouse has managed the farm or business for ten years preceding the decedent's death or takes over active management upon the decedent's death. Qualifies the owner of a woodland for the special use valuation if the owner or a member of the owner's family actively managed the property for ten years prior to the owner's death. Reduces from 15 to ten years the length of time a qualified property must be held and put to a qualified use following the decedent's death before it can be disposed of without incurring a recapture of estate tax benefits. Permits active management rather than material participation as a test for qualification of the estate for spouses, children under 21, students, and disabled individuals who receive property from a decedent who qualified for special use valuation. Repeals the $500,000 limitation on the reduction of the value of qualified real property permitted by the special use valuation. Allows the like kind exchange of property without loss of special use valuation eligibility. Allows valuation based on net crop share rentals as an alternative method of valuing farms. Repeals the requirement that an heir elect special treatment for involuntary conversions of qualified real property, thus making such treatment automatic upon such conversion. States that gifts made within three years of a decedent's death shall be valued as of the time of transfer rather than as of the date of death. Authorizes an individual to elect to pay a gift tax rather than use the unified tax credit. Modifies the alternate extension of time for payment of the estate tax where the estate consists largely of an interest in a closely held business to: (1) allow an installment payment election if the value of the interest in the closely held business is either 35 percent of the value of the gross estate or 50 percent of the taxable estate; (2) increase to 50 percent the value of an interest disposed of which will accelerate the payment of tax; and (3) permit payment, but with a penalty, of an installment within six months after the due date. Allows a disclaimer of an interest in property for estate tax purposes in specified circumstances where such disclaimer does not result in the passing of the interest concerned under the applicable State law.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $20,000 to $75,000 in 1981 (with annual adjustments up to $95,000 in 1985 and thereafter) the earned income exclusion for U.S. citizens working abroad who are bona fide residents of a foreign country. Repeals the requirement that, as a condition of their employment, such individuals reside in a hardship area. Reduces from 17 to 11 months the residency requirement for such exclusion. Provides for an income tax exclusion for the value of employer-provided lodging in a camp in cases where satisfactory housing is not generally available. Reduces from 17 to 11 months the foreign residency requirement with respect to the deduction for certain housing expenses of living abroad.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1981
Title I: Limitation on Authorizations - Makes authorization of appropriations under this title effective on October 1, 1981. Limits contractual obligations under this Act to the authority provided in advance in appropriation Acts. Title II: Amendments to the National Trails System Act - National Trails System Act Amendments of 1980 - Amends the National Trails System Act to state as an additional purpose of such Act the encouragement of volunteer citizen involvement in the development and management of national trails. Provides that national scenic trails may be located so as to represent various natural areas which exhibit significant characteristics of the physiographic regions of the United States. Defines the term "extended trails" for purposes of this Act. Permits national recreation trails to be designated on private land if the owners consent. Designates the following as national trails: (1) the Santa Fe National Historic Trail; (2) the Chisolm, Shawnee, and Western National Historic Trails, Texas and Kansas; (3) the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail; (4) the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, Tennessee and Mississippi; and (5) the Florida National Scenic Trail, Florida. Requires the feasibility of designating a trail to be based on an evaluation of the physical possibility and financial feasibility of developing a trail along a route being studied. Requires the appropriate Secretary to inform specified congressional committees if a proposed route is not feasible for designation as a national trail. Permits the Secretary to terminate further study by notice in the Federal Register unless one committee adopts a resolution of disapproval within 30 days of being informed. Designates the following routes for consideration as national scenic trails: (1) the Juan Bautista de Anza Trail, California; (2) the Trail of Tears, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois; (3) the Illinois Trail, Illinois; (4) the Jedediah Smith Trail, Wyoming, California, Utah, and Washington; (5) the General Crook Trail, Arizona; and (6) the Beale Wagon Road, Arizona. Requires the appropriate Secretary to notify the appropriate congressional committees if a trail advisory council cannot be established because of lack of public interest. Redefines the Federal members of trail advisory councils. Requires additional information in the comprehensive management plans for national historic trails. Removes the requirement that connecting or side trails provide additional points of access. Permits the location of such trails on private lands if the owners consent. Requires the appropriate Secretary to consult with all affected State and Federal agencies in the management of a trail. Allows management transfer of any specified trail segment. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for trail interpretation at historic sites. Authorizes the acquisition, if the owner consents, of an entire tract of land when such tract lies partly outside and partly within a right-of-way. Permits lands acquired outside the right-of-way to be exchanged for non-Federal lands within the right-of-way or to be disposed of under existing sales authorities. Provides that cooperative agreements to develop and maintain national trails may include financial assistance provisions, or volunteer status provisions, or both. Requires Federal consultation with State and local governments to encourage the development of laws to regulate land practices and to protect private landowners from trespass, unnecessary personal liability, and property damage caused by trail use. Specifies some activities and vehicle types allowed on designated components of the national trails system. Requires certain Federal officials to encourage the establishment of national trails using the provisions of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976. Provides that the interim use of a railroad right-of-way for trail use shall not constitute an abandonment of the use of the right-of-way for railroad purposes. Authorizes the expenditure of land acquisition funds to provide for one trail interpretation site in each State crossed by the trail. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1982 for the national trails designated in this Act. Limits the funds available for land acquisition for the Natchez Trace Trail and for development of the Natchez Trace Trail system. Authorizes the establishment of a volunteer action trails demonstration program administered by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture. Authorizes each Secretary to make grants to volunteer trail groups involved in the maintenance or development of national trails or trails which could qualify as national trails. Specifies the permissible uses for such grant money. Sets forth application requirements for volunteer trail groups. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1982 and 1983 to carry out this program. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to prohibit the imposition of Federal entrance fees at national recreation areas, units of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, or units of the National Trails System. Prohibits the continued imposition of Federal entrance fees at national parks where the collection costs exceeded the receipts in calendar year 1979. Permits the Secretary of the Interior to continue an entrance fee at a national park unit, upon notice to specified congressional committees, if the Secretary determines before April 1, 1981, that the fee is necessary to protect park resources.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1981
National Health Care Reform Act of 1981 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish actuarial categories, including an aged and disabled actuarial category, of individuals eligible for Federal financial assistance toward the purchase of membership in a health care plan qualified under this Act (health care contributions). Sets forth the factors to be considered in establishing such categories. Requires the Secretary to delineate the United States into health care areas according to specified criteria. Title I: Health Care Contributions - Makes every individual who is a resident citizen of the United States or a lawful resident alien eligible for a health care contribution. Stipulates that dependents of eligible individuals are not eligible for health care contributions unless they are aged or disabled. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax exclusion of contributions paid by an eligible individual's employer toward the premium of such plan. Sets forth the conditions for such exclusion. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer a tax credit for the premium paid by such taxpayer during the taxable year for membership in such plan. Limits the tax credit to individuals eligible for such contribution. Specifies the maximum allowable credit for a taxable year. Sets forth additional limitations on such credit. Directs the Secretary to make a contribution to eligible disabled or elderly individuals who elect to receive such contribution in lieu of benefits under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (Medicare). Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register the amount of contributions for such individuals in each health care area. Sets forth the method for computing such contributions. Entitles an eligible individual whose family income is below specified guidelines to receive for the year in which a plan is effective (plan year) a direct health care contribution. Limits contributions to one eligible individual per family. Sets forth the conditions for receipt of such contribution. Entitles an eligible aged or disabled individual to such a contribution only if he or she has: (1) elected to receive such a contribution in lieu of Medicare benefits; and (2) waived any right for the aged or disabled for the plan year. Provides for the periodic transfer of funds from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund established under the Social Security Act to make payments for such contributions to aged or disabled individuals. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register the amount of contributions for the financially needy made for each health care area. Allows the Secretary to enter into a contract with any State under which the State will determine the eligibility for and the amount of a contribution for financially needy residents. Directs the Secretary to issue a health care voucher to eligible individuals in the amount of the contribution. Specifies the contents of such voucher and its date of issuance. Requires a plan to accept a voucher issued to an eligible individual as full or partial payment of the plan's annual premium. Requires the Secretary to make payments to a plan presenting such vouchers. Sets forth the terms for such payments. Prohibits the Secretary from withholding any portion of the health care payments to which a plan is entitled to offset any amount owed to the United States by the plan, an eligible individual, or any other person. Prohibits the Secretary from denying payment of an invalid voucher unless a plan has actual knowledge of such invalidity at the time of acceptance. Prohibits the assignment or attachment of a health care voucher. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude such health care voucher payments from gross income. Title II: Qualified Plans - Allows a plan to apply to the Secretary for certification as a qualified plan in one or more health care areas. Requires the Secretary to act upon such application (otherwise such application shall be deemed approved) within 30 days. Sets forth the factors to be considered in acting upon such application. Directs the Secretary to provide a plan with a written explanation and a hearing in the event of disapproval. Provides for the continued qualification of an approved plan until it is disqualified under this Act. Prohibits the Secretary from changing regulations for a plan year later than April 1 of the previous year unless all affected plans agree. Requires a plan to provide its members with basic health care services including: (1) medical, surgical, and obstetrical care; (2) inpatient, outpatient, and other institutional health services, plus home health or institutional services for aged or disabled individuals; (3) preventive health services; (4) prescription drugs; (5) blood; (6) emergency transportation; (7) medical equipment, including therapeutic devices and prosthetic applications; and (8) out-of-area coverage. Specifies exclusions from such required services. Requires a plan to provide a written membership agreement which sets forth the rights and obligations of the plan and its members. States that the term of each membership agreement shall be a plan year. Limits membership to eligible residents of the health care area in which a plan is located. Requires a plan to: (1) have an open membership enrollment, with specified exceptions including the number of medically high-risk individuals; (2) provide an individual with a written explanation if membership is denied; and (3) enroll a member's spouse or dependents as associate members, including the automatic enrollment of a new spouse or dependent. Requires each plan to establish an annual premium for each actuarial category. Sets a maximum individual cost per plan year for basic health services. Requires the Secretary to publish such maximum cost in the Federal Register. Allows group premium reductions. Requires a plan to permit: (1) monthly premium payments; and (2) premium transfers between qualifying plans. Entitles an aged or disabled individual who tenders a health care voucher which is greater than the premium to a refund or credit. Requires a plan to: (1) report annually to the Secretary with enrollment information; (2) submit to the Secretary any proposed coverage changes; and (3) provide financial information and make payments to the Health Benefits Assurance Corporation established under this Act. Requires a plan to file with the Secretary a brochure for a plan year describing: (1) the health care services to be provided; (2) the method by which such services will be provided; (3) the location of health care facilities; (4) the maximum amount of expenditures required of a member; (5) the health care area or areas in which the plan will be offered; (6) the premium charged for each actuarial category; and (7) the installments in which such premium may be paid. Directs the Secretary and the plan to make such brochures available to the public. Allows advertising of the health care plan. Directs the Secretary to bar the distribution of a misleading and inaccurate brochure or advertisement. Allows: (1) members of a plan to refuse services by a person designated by the plan to provide such service; and (2) health care personnel to refuse for moral reasons to provide certain services. Requires arbitration of specified grievances between an individual and a plan. Sets forth limitations on the authorities of the Secretary, the qualified plan, the plan's sponsor, and the deliverer of health care services. Requires the Secretary to disqualify a plan if any proposed changes will prevent such plan from providing basic health care services or will require excessive out-of-pocket expenditures. Allows the Secretary to: (1) disqualify a plan if the plan's sponsor has violated the antitrust provisions established by this Act; and (2) rescind such disqualification if the plan meets certain criteria. Prohibits treatment of a plan as a qualified plan after the U.S. Health Court appoints a receiver. Requires the Secretary to provide information about qualified plans and to help process applications for health care vouchers. Allows an eligible individual to authorize any person to act as his or her agent. Permits only a chartered health care contribution agent to serve as an authorized agent for more than 25 persons. Directs the Secretary to designate as chartered health care contribution agents persons who meet specified qualifications of honesty and expertise. Prohibits State payments under title III (Unemployment Compensation) and title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of the Social Security Act to any eligible person who is not a member of a qualified plan. Requires membership in a plan in order to qualify for supplemental security income and food stamp benefits. Exempts specified persons from such membership requirements. Grants standing to a plan to assert the rights of its members. Deems members to have assigned their rights to a claim in specified circumstances. Repeals the provisions of Federal law relating to Federal employee health insurance. Requires the Federal Government to contribute to the premium of a health plan on behalf of Federal employees. Authorizes the Secretary to guarantee an insurance policy of a qualified plan where similar insurance is not available at commercially reasonable rates. Establishes the Health Benefits Assurance Corporation to periodically review health plan applications for financial certification. Exempts the Corporation from all Federal, State, and local taxes. Sets forth the powers of the Corporation. Requires the Corporation to establish a protective fund to assure the provision of services by plans financially unable to meet their obligations. Establishes a revolving fund in the U.S. Treasury for the Corporation to use to carry out its duties. Authorizes the Corporation to issue debt obligations. Requires a plan to repay the Corporation if any amount of the protective fund is used to fulfill the obligations of such plan. Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse a plan for services furnished to a nonmember. Sets forth arbitration procedures. Provides for judicial review of any agency action by the Health Court. Establishes the Health Court. Sets forth the organization of such Court. Grants such Court exclusive jurisdiction over all civil actions brought to enforce this Act and all civil claims and disputes arising under this Act and under agreements by or with qualified plans. Directs the Court to appoint a receiver for a plan if the Court determines there is a strong possibility the plan will not be able to fulfill its obligations to its members. Prohibits the commencement, or requires the suspension, of any Federal or State bankruptcy or reorganization proceeding during any period for which a receiver has been appointed. Establishes a Health Court of Appeals with jurisdiction over appeals brought from the Health Court. Allows the Supreme Court to review cases in the Health Court of Appeals by writ of certiorari. Sets forth criminal penalties for violations of this Act or specified sections of the Internal Revenue Code. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and contracts to compensate public or private nonprofit charitable organizations for providing graduate medical education and training for health care professionals. Preempts specified State and local laws, including those which would prevent or impede the health care delivery system reforms of this Act. Revises the medical expense deduction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to exclude the separate deduction for medical insurance and to prohibit any deduction for premiums paid to qualified health care plans. Sets forth the method of determining the adjustment amount which States that have elected to accept health care contributions instead of Medicaid assistance owe the Federal government or which the Federal government owes such States. Repeals provisions of the Social Security Act concerning professional standards review, uniform reporting, capital expenditure limitations, hospital utilization and bylaws, and customary charges. Revises the reasonable cost definition of the Medicare provisions to be costs actually incurred. Repeals specified provisions of the Public Health Services Act concerning health maintenance organizations, health planning, and health resources development. Negates the duty of an institution to provide free care and to fulfill community service obligations if 50 percent or more of the patient days of such institution were accounted for by members of qualified plans. Title IV: Effective Dates and Nonseverability - Establishes the effective date of this Act. Prohibits the Secretary from making a direct health care contribution to an individual who has not made a timely election to receive the health care contribution instead of Medicare benefits. Repeals the Medicare provisions after more than 50 percent of the eligible persons elect health care contributions. Requires a State to notify the Secretary by a certain date of its irrevocable election to accept health care contributions instead of Medicaid benefits. Deems such a State to have agreed to make any necessary adjustment payments. Deems the Act invalid, except the repeals and amendments of the Social Security and the Public Health Service Acts, if any portion of this Act is found to be invalid.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that each department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States that utilizes the Draize rabbit eye irritancy test should develop and validate alternative testing procedures that do not require the use of animal test subjects.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow preference visas to be given to an alien who: (1) requests such treatment; (2) was born after 1950 in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, or Thailand; (3) was fathered by an American serviceman; and (4) provides a guarantee of financial support. Stipulates that such guarantee must: (1) be signed by a citizen or lawful permanent resident who is at least 21 years old; and (2) provide that such signing sponsor will provide necessary financial support for five years. Allows the Attorney General to enforce such guarantee against the sponsor in a civil suit unless such sponsor dies or is adjudicated bankrupt.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income a corporate stock distribution to a stockholder based upon the reinvestment of stock dividends in the corporation by such stockholder pursuant to his election to participate in a qualified dividend reinvestment plan, as defined in this Act. Limits the amount of such exclusion to $1,500 per year. Establishes a rebuttable presumption that a distribution made by a corporation which purchases its common stock within one year of such distribution shall not be deemed a distribution pursuant to a qualified dividend reinvestment plan.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Small Business and Family Farm Preservation Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the unified credit against estate and gift taxes from $47,000 to $155,800. Increases the amount of the annual gift tax exclusion from $3,000 to $6,000.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Limitation on Government Recordkeeping Requirements and Actions Act of 1981 - Prohibits any Federal agency from: (1) requiring any person to maintain, prepare, or produce records (other than records relating to a dangerous material) of an event more than four years after the event has occurred; and (2) commencing an action against a person for a violation of a regulation more than four years after such violation has occurred, except as otherwise provided by the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit taxpayers who do not itemize income tax deductions to claim a deduction from gross income for charitable contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Child Care Agency Tax Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the windfall profit tax oil produced from interests held by or for a residential child care agency. Defines such an agency as a tax-exempt charitable organization operated primarily for the residential placement, care, or treatment of delinquent, dependent, neglected, or handicapped children.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish mandatory minimum two-year terms of imprisonment for the Federal crimes of burglary, aggravated assault, second degree murder, commission of an offense with a firearm or destructive device, rape, and robbery (including bank robbery). Increases the minimum term to four years for repeat offenders. Stipulates that the execution or imposition of sentences: (1) may not be suspended; (2) may not include probation or parole; and (3) is not subject to good time provisions or the Federal Youth Corrections Act. Specifies mitigating circumstances for the imposition of such mandatory sentences. Requires a sentencing hearing to determine if such circumstances are applicable.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Hobbs Act Amendment of 1981 - Amends the Hobbs Act to establish penalties for obstructing, affecting, or interfering with commerce by willfully injuring, damaging, burning, or destroying to the value of $2,000 or more any real or personal property of any person at or near any place where work or business of an employer or owner is carried on or where such employer or owner transports, stores, or maintains property for business or other purposes. States that such violation, as well as the offense of interfering with commerce by extortion, shall not be nullified or mitigated even if committed in the course of a legitimate labor dispute.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the categories of deportable aliens foreign students who knowingly participated in a political demonstration resulting in, or intending to result in, injury or damage to another's person or property. Permits the Attorney General to suspend deportation of such students.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide an additional $1,000 personal tax exemption for a taxpayer, his spouse, or a dependent who is handicapped. Defines "handicapped" as a physical or mental impairment of a permanent nature which constitutes a substantial handicap to employment or education.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Sunset Review Act of 1981 - Requires the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to jointly develop and maintain an inventory of all Federal programs and tax expenditures. Requires such inventory to classify all such programs and expenditures according to the jurisdiction of the various legislative committees of the two Houses. Requires the General Accounting Office (GAO), before the beginning of the 98th Congress, after consultation with the appropriate legislative committees and the Congressional Budget Office, to submit a draft inventory to the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Requires such Committees to notify each legislative committee of the programs and tax expenditures which are classified within its jurisdiction. Allows any legislative committee to propose revisions of such inventory within 30 days after notification. Requires that such inventory be published in a single document. Requires that an update be made of such inventory at the beginning of every Congress. Specifies information to be contained in such an inventory. Directs the GAO to publish a supplement to such inventory which includes certain budget information. Requires each legislative committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate, by a specified date, to report a resolution setting forth an agenda for the sunset review of selected Federal programs within its jurisdiction, or, in the case of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance, of selected tax expenditures. Directs the committees of each House to develop their sunset review agenda in consultation with any other committee which has concurrent jurisdiction over any programs or tax expenditures involved. Requires, where practicable, that related programs and expenditures be reviewed during the same Congress. Requires the report accompanying any agenda reported in the 104th Congress and every fifth Congress thereafter to summarize the programs and expenditures reviewed and not reviewed during the five previous Congresses. Prohibits either the House or the Senate from considering a primary expense resolution for any legislative committee in any Congress until that committee has developed and submitted its sunset review agenda. Requires the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to incorporate such agendas into a consolidated sunset review agenda and to report such consolidated agenda to its House in the form of a concurrent resolution, within seven legislative days after all committee sunset review agendas have been submitted. Requires the consolidated sunset review agenda to be adopted in the House and in the Senate no later than March 30 in the first session of each Congress. Sets forth the procedures for the consideration and adoption of such agenda. Requires each committee of the House or the Senate, not later than May 15 in the second session of each Congress, to report a bill or bills modifying, continuing, or terminating each program or tax expenditure which it has been directed to review under the consolidated sunset review agenda adopted during the first session. Requires such bill to be accompanied by a report. Requires each department, agency, and instrumentality in the executive branch of the Government which is responsible for the administration of a Federal program or tax expenditure selected for sunset review to provide the appropriate Congressional committees with its views, information, and assistance. Directs the Comptroller General to supply specified information on audits. Exempts foreign intelligence or counterintelligence programs designated by the President as requiring protection from unauthorized disclosure. Directs the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate to review such programs pursuant to the spirit of this Act. Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to include the consolidated sunset review agendas and the Congressional inventory of Federal programs as part of the House Committee on Rules' functions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Anti-Inflation Tax Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require annual cost of living adjustments, based on the Consumer Price Index, to individual income tax rates, the personal tax exemption, withholding requirements, and minimum income tax return amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Requires that each State establish and maintain an approved workfare program as a condition of its eligibility for Federal payments or other assistance under the: (1) program of aid to families with dependent children under the Social Security Act; (2) food stamp program under the Food Stamp Act of 1977; and (3) public housing and assisted housing programs under the United States Housing Act of 1937. Requires that such State workfare program shall require every State resident applying for or receiving aid under such Federal public assistance program to perform work in return for, and as a condition for, such aid. Directs the appropriate Federal agencies to promulgate guidelines for approval, supervision, and oversight of such State workfare programs. Exempts from required participation in such programs those who are: (1) under age 18 or over age 65; (2) disabled; (3) regularly employed for at least 40 hours a week; or (4) primarily responsible for the care of a child less than three years old (or for the care of a child more than two but less than six years old if suitable child care is not available at reasonable cost). Requires that each State workfare program must provide that if any individual who is required to participate in such program refuses to accept a bona fide offer of qualified employment or to perform qualified employment, in any month, neither such individual nor any other person in the family or household of which such individual is a member shall be eligible to receive any aid under such Federal public assistance programs for that month. Requires that State workfare programs include provision for job counseling, assistance in obtaining employment outside the program, and job search activities. Provides for: (1) Federal matching funds to cover administrative costs of such State programs; (2) Federal cut-offs of funds to State agencies for failure to comply with this Act; and (3) Federal agency reports to Congress on such State programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 to revise and increase the mandatory penalties for using or carrying a firearm during commission of a Federal felony. Defines such offense as using a firearm to commit a felony over which the district courts have exclusive jurisdiction or carrying a firearm during such a felony involving violence. Deletes the requirement that the firearm be carried "illegally." Increases the additional penalty imposed for such offense from one to ten years' imprisonment to five to ten years' imprisonment for a first offender and from two to 25 years to ten years to life imprisonment for a second or subsequent offender. Extends to first offenders the directions, currently applicable only to second offenders, that the court not suspend any sentence or grant probation and that the additional sentence not run concurrently with any term of imprisonment imposed for the offense itself. Makes a first offender ineligible for parole for five years and a second or subsequent offender ineligible for ten years. Expresses the sense of Congress that the executive prosecute vigorously such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Age Discrimination in Employment Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to remove the existing 70-year upper age limit to which the discrimination prohibitions apply, thus extending coverage to all individuals who are at least 40 years of age. States that no exceptions to the prohibitions are permitted based on the nature of employment of an individual or entitlement to retirement benefits. Repeals mandatory retirement provisions for Federal civil service employees, District of Columbia employees, and Foreign Service employees.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Clean Air Act to repeal the requirement that State implementation plans for meeting the national primary ambient air quality standard provide for periodic inspection and testing of motor vehicles.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Repeals the requirement under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act that the amount of monthly benefits payable to a spouse or surviving spouse be reduced by the amount such spouse or surviving spouse receives monthly from a Federal or State pension fund.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Service Liability Partial Self-Insurance Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction to any taxpayer furnishing professional design services for cash contributions to a service liability trust. Defines services liability as liability for tort damages attributable to negligence in, breach of warranty regarding, or defects in the professional construction or modification design of buildings or structures on real property. Limits the allowable deduction: (1) for a taxpayer with a severe service liability problem to a maximum of $100,000, or one of two specified formula sums, whichever is least; and (2) for a taxpayer with no severe liability problem to a maximum of $25,000, or one of two formula sums, whichever is least. Penalizes unauthorized distributions from such accounts except for: (1) corrective withdrawal of excess contributions; (2) distributions when a change of circumstances causes continued maintenance of such trust to have no trade or business purposes; (3) transfers of rollover amounts; (4) distributions following complete liquidation of the pertinent trade or business; and (5) certain sales deemed distributions. Limits the investment of account assets to: (1) Federal public debt securities; (2) nondefaulted State or local obligations; (3) time or demand deposits in certain Federally insured financial institutions; or (4) any other investment asset permissible under law of the State where such account is organized. Treats service liability loss reserves as amounts accumulated for the reasonably anticipated needs of a business, for purposes of avoiding the accumulated earnings tax.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Repeals the provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 permitting automatic cost-of-living adjustments in the salaries of Members of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes a Commission on More Effective Government to study and recommend ways of promoting economy, efficiency, and improved service within the Executive branch of Government. Directs the Commission to recommend methods to improve the relationship between Federal, State, and local governments. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress ten days after the Ninety-eighth Congress convenes. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such date. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Corcoran, Tom [R-IL-14]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000773_200.jpg)