United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1989
Volunteer Protection Act of 1989 - Prescribes circumstances under which volunteers working for nonprofit organizations or government entities shall be immune from personal financial liability for acts on behalf of the organization or entity. Sets forth exceptions to and conditions on the granting of such immunity that a State may impose. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase by one percent the fiscal year allotment which would otherwise be made to a State to carry out the Social Services Block Grant Program under title XX of the Social Security Act if such State has, within two years, certified to the Secretary that it has enacted a State law which provides such immunity. Provides for the continuation of such increase based on an annual recertification.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1989
Amends the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish Federal motor vehicle safety standards requiring that school buses be equipped with a system of mirrors to provide the driver with a clear, unobstructed view of the ground area in front of the front tires, along both sides, and directly under the front bumper. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the number of school buses manufactured before April 1, 1977, that are being used as school buses as of the date of the report.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1989
Designates July 27, 1989, as National Korean War Veterans Recognition Day and expresses the gratitude of the Congress and the Nation for the contributions made by the Korean War veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. Government should reassess current policy and pursue a negotiated settlement to the civil war in El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1989
SSI Benefit Improvement Amendments of 1989 - Title I: Provisions to Increase SSI Benefit Standards and Changes in Treatment of Certain In-Kind Income - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to gradually increase SSI benefits so that they are set at the Department of Health and Human Services' Federal Poverty Income Guidelines on and after January 1, 1992. Reduces the SSI benefits payable to a person living in another's household and receiving support and maintenance in kind by the amount of such support and maintenance if it is less than the one-third benefit reduction currently applicable. Eliminates the application of such benefit reduction to persons who pay a reasonable portion of household expenses. Treats an individual who becomes ineligible for SSI benefits by reason of his or her receipt of support or maintenance in kind as continuing to receive SSI benefits for Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) eligibility purposes. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to notify individuals who have lost their SSI eligibility in such manner after 1983 of their possible eligibility for Medicaid benefits. Title II: Increases in SSI Resource Limits - Raises SSI resource eligibility limits. Directs the Secretary to annually notify SSI applicants and recipients of the resource limits in effect for the year. Title III: Establishment of Permanent SSI Outreach Program - Requires the Secretary to establish and conduct an SSI outreach program for: (1) low-income aged, blind, and disabled individuals who are not receiving SSI benefits; and (2) children who are potential SSI beneficiaries by reason of disability or blindness. Directs the Secretary to conduct an evaluation program and annually report to the Congress on the effectiveness of such outreach programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1989
SSI Technical Amendments Act of 1989 - Title I: Changes in the Treatment of Income and Resources - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to treat unemployment compensation and worker's compensation as earned income for purposes of the SSI program. Treats income received on a weekly or biweekly basis as being received on a regular monthly basis at the same annual rate if such treatment would render the payee eligible for SSI benefits. Excludes the value of domestic commercial transportation tickets received as gifts and not converted to cash from income for SSI purposes. Reduces the amount of time during which a separated couple must be apart for their income and resources to be considered separately if such separation induces a financial emergency. Excludes specified amounts of interest and dividend income from an individual's income for SSI purposes. Increases the cash value of life insurance and burial fund accounts which is excluded from a beneficiary's resources for SSI purposes. Title II: Special Provision Related to SSI for the Mentally Ill - Excludes the time during which an individual was ineligible for SSI benefits by reason of being in a public mental institution from the one-year period of ineligibility after which a former SSI beneficiary must reapply for SSI benefits. Title III: SSI Status for Certain Individuals -Preserves the Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) eligibility of individuals who lose their SSI blindness or disability benefits upon entitlement to old-age or spouse's insurance benefits under the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program (title II of the Act). Amends the Employment Opportunities for Disabled Americans Act to preserve the Medicaid eligibility of individuals who became ineligible for SSI benefits upon entitlement to or an increase in OASDI child's insurance benefits before July 1, 1987. Amends the SSI program to require that individuals who are considered to be receiving SSI benefits for Medicaid eligibility purposes continue to satisfy other Medicaid eligibility criteria. Presumes that such individuals have applied for Medicaid eligibility. Title IV: Effective Date - Sets October 1, 1989, as this Act's effective date, except where otherwise specified.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1989
Directs the Comptroller General to conduct an annual audit of the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Advisory Council, the Federal Open Market Committee, and all Federal Reserve banks and their branches. Requires the Comptroller General, within six months after the end of each fiscal year, to report to the Congress on the results of such audit.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1989
Medicaid Community and Facility Habilitation Services Amendments of 1989 - Title I: Community Habilitation and Supportive Services - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to authorize States to cover community habilitation and supportive services for individuals with mental retardation or related conditions without regard to whether or not such individuals have been discharged from a nursing or habilitation facility. Defines community habilitation and supportive services as services which assist individuals in developing and maintaining the skills necessary to function successfully in a home or community-based setting. Requires that community habilitation and supportive services be provided to each client in accordance with an individual service plan prepared and periodically reviewed and revised by an interdisciplinary team on the basis of a comprehensive functional assessment of a client's needs conducted before his or her receipt of services and at least annually thereafter. Requires that such services meet minimum requirements, to be developed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, regarding client rights and service quality. Makes the requirements imposed on habilitation facilities (under title II of this Act) regarding patient's rights and facility safety and sanitation applicable to residential settings in which community habilitation and supportive services are provided. Requires that residential settings: (1) disclose persons having an ownership or control interest in the setting; and (2) exclude a person from such interest if he or she has been excluded from the Medicaid program or had an interest in a residential setting repeatedly found to have provided substandard care. Requires a habilitation facility which converts to a residential setting to continue to provide continuous active treatment to residents who required such treatment at the time of conversion. Requires a residential setting to document a client's receipt of medical services. Makes the: (1) Secretary responsible for certifying that State providers of community habilitation and supportive services and residential settings in which such services are provided comply with Medicaid requirements; and (2) States responsible for certifying that other providers of and residential settings for such services comply with Medicaid requirements. Requires each State to: (1) conduct periodic educational programs for the staff and clients in residential settings for community habilitation and supportive services regarding requirements imposed on such setting; and (2) provide, through the State agency responsible for the certification of such providers and residential settings, for the receipt, review, and investigation of allegations of client neglect and abuse and of misappropriation of client property by providers. Requires that such providers and settings be certified annually. Bases residential setting certification on an annual, unannounced survey. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a protocol for conducting surveys; and (2) conduct sample surveys of residential settings, within two months of State surveys, to test the adequacy of State surveys. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a special survey of a setting or a review of the provider when there is reason to question its compliance with this Act. Prohibits the use of surveyors who have an interest in the provider or setting being surveyed or have not completed a training and testing program approved by the Secretary. Requires States and the Secretary to investigate complaints against providers or settings concerning violations of this Act's requirements. Requires that: (1) certain information regarding providers and settings and their compliance with this Act's requirements be made available to the public; and (2) the State agency responsible for the protection and advocacy system for the developmentally disabled and the guardians of clients be notified of a provider's or setting's noncompliance with this Act's requirements. Gives State Medicaid fraud and abuse control units access to provider or setting survey and certification information. Requires that when the Secretary or State determines that a provider's or setting's deficiencies immediately jeopardize the client's health and safety, immediate action be taken to remove the jeopardy and correct the deficiencies or the provider's or setting's participation in Medicaid be terminated. Directs the Secretary and States to apply certain other remedies where the health and safety of clients are not immediately jeopardized. Requires the imposition of civil money penalties against providers and settings which are, or are found to have been, out of compliance with any of this Act's requirements. Sets forth the Secretary's responsibilities relating to community habilitation and supportive service requirements. Eliminates the restriction of the Medicaid waiver for community habilitation services to individuals who have been discharged from a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress annually on the extent to which providers and residential settings are complying with this Act's requirements and the number and type of enforcement actions taken by the Secretary and the States. Title II: Quality Assurance for Habilitation Facility Services - Defines a "habilitation facility" as an institution primarily engaged in providing health or habilitation services to individuals with mental retardation or related conditions and not primarily for the care and treatment of mental diseases. Sets forth requirements for habilitation facilities, including requirements that such facilities: (1) promote maintenance or enhancement of the quality of life, independence, productivity, and integration into the community of each client; (2) provide continuous active treatment which is coordinated and monitored by a qualified mental retardation professional; (3) provide such treatment in accordance with an individual program plan prepared and periodically reviewed and revised by an interdisciplinary team of professionals on the basis of an assessment of a client's developmental and behavioral management needs conducted upon the client's admission and at least annually thereafter; (4) not admit any new client with mental retardation or a related condition on or after January 1, 1991, unless the State mental retardation or developmental disability authority has determined on the basis of an evaluation performed independently of the facility that the individual requires habilitation facility services; (5) provide physician services 24 hours a day, annual physical examinations, licensed nursing services, comprehensive dental diagnostic and treatment services, routine and emergency drugs and biologicals, professional program services to implement each client's active treatment plan, and meal services; (6) require a physician's supervision of each patient's care, have a physician available to furnish emergency medical care, and maintain clinical records on all clients; (7) protect specified client rights, including the right to appeal a transfer or discharge and receive post-discharge preparation and planning services; (8) provide applicants and residents with information regarding the Medicaid program and not require applicants to waive their rights to such benefits or have a third party guarantee payment to the facility as a condition of their admission; (9) protect a client's personal funds upon the client's authorization and teach clients to manage their funds to the extent of their capabilities; (10) adopt certain measures to preserve facility safety and sanitation; and (11) meet such other conditions which the Secretary of Health and Human Services deems necessary for client health and safety. Sets forth the Secretary's responsibilities relating to habilitation facility requirements. Makes the Secretary responsible for certifying that State habilitation facilities comply, and States responsible for certifying that other habilitation facilities comply, with Medicaid habilitation facility requirements. Requires each State to: (1) conduct periodic educational programs for habilitation facility staff and clients regarding the requirements imposed on such facilities; and (2) provide, through the State agency responsible for the certification of habilitation facilities, for the receipt, review, and investigation of allegations of client neglect and abuse and of misappropriation of client property by facility staff. Bases habilitation facility certification on an annual, unannounced survey. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and test a protocol for conducting surveys; (2) establish minimum qualifications for surveyors and train them in survey and certification techniques; and (3) conduct sample surveys of habilitation facilities, within two months of State surveys, to test the adequacy of State surveys, and reduce Federal payments for State Medicaid administrative costs if such State surveys prove inadequate. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a special survey of a facility when there is reason to question its compliance with this Act. Requires States and the Secretary to investigate complaints against a facility and monitor the compliance of a facility with this Act's requirements if the facility was previously found out of compliance or the State or Secretary has reason to question its compliance. Requires that: (1) certain information regarding habilitation facilities and their compliance with this Act's requirements be made available to the public; (2) the State agency responsible for the protection and advocacy system for the developmentally disabled and the guardians of facility clients be notified of a facility's noncompliance with this Act's requirements; and (3) survey results be posted in a place that is readily assessible to clients. Gives State Medicaid fraud and abuse control units access to facility survey and certification information. Requires that when the Secretary or a State determines that a habilitation facility's deficiencies immediately jeopardize residents' health and safety, immediate action be taken to remove the jeopardy and correct the deficiencies or such facility's participation in Medicaid be terminated. Directs the Secretary and States to apply certain other remedies where the health and safety of facility residents are not immediately jeopardized. Authorizes the imposition of civil money penalties against facilities found to be in compliance with this Act's requirements but to have been out of compliance previously. Provides that if a facility is out of compliance with any of this Act's requirements three months after having been found out of compliance with such requirements or on three consecutive annual surveys, Medicaid payments for newly admitted residents shall be denied, civil monetary penalties assessed and collected, and, in the latter case, on-site monitoring of the facility's compliance shall be established. Provides that when a facility is found to have deficiencies relating to the facility's physical plant that do not immediately jeopardize the health or safety of its clients, the State may submit to the Secretary a written plan for permanently reducing the number of certified beds in such facility within 36 months of such finding and providing services, including community habilitation and supportive services, to clients who thereby cease to receive facility services. Requires that Medicaid-eligible clients be given the option of retaining facility services. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress annually on the extent to which habilitation facilities are complying with this Act's requirements and the number and type of enforcement actions taken by States and the Secretary. Title III: Appropriate Placement for Individuals with Mental Retardation or Related Condition - Requires that State mental retardation or developmental disability authorities conduct preadmission and annual reviews of habilitation facility applicants and residents with mental retardation or related conditions to determine whether they require facility services or community habilitation and supportive services. Directs that such preadmission and annual reviews be conducted in accordance with criteria to be developed by the Secretary by July 1, 1990. Requires States to provide community habilitation and supportive services for facility clients who need such services but no longer need habilitation facility services. Requires States to establish an appeals procedure for individuals adversely affected by such preadmission and annual reviews. Eliminates existing utilization review and penalty provisions directed at the provision of services in an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded. Title IV: Payment for Community Habilitation Services and Habilitation Facility Services - Covers the reasonable and adequate costs of community habilitation and supportive services and habilitation facility services. Prohibits Medicaid reimbursement of providers or facilities for civil monetary penalties imposed pursuant to this Act. Title V: Employee Protections and Miscellaneous - Provides employment protections for employees affected by habilitation facility closures or capacity reductions occurring after this Act's enactment. Authorizes States to assign specific management functions relating to the provision of Medicaid services to individuals with mental retardation or related conditions to State agencies responsible for developmentally disabled individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1989
SSI Disabled and Blind Children Act of 1989 - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct an individualized assessment of a child's mental and physical impairments in determining his or her eligibility for SSI benefits by reason of disability or blindness. Establishes a presumption that a child under age four with a genetic or congenital impairment is disabled or blind for SSI purposes if it is probable that more accurate clinical and laboratory techniques would prove such to be the case. Directs the Secretary to publish, within 30 days of this Act's enactment, a revision of specified listings of mental and emotional disorders which justifies each deviation from recommendations contained in the Revised Childhood Listings of Mental Impairments submitted by the Mental Impairment Listings Workgroup to the Associate Commissioner for Disability on April 1, 1986. Requires the Secretary to: (1) consider age-appropriate medical and functional criteria developed by experts in childhood disability in reviewing and revising all childhood listings; and (2) publish a revised listings and explain deviations from the recommendations of experts within 18 months of this Act's enactment. Establishes a formula for determining the amount of parental resources deemed available to a disabled or blind child for SSI benefit and eligibility purposes. Excludes property which is essential to the self-support of an individual from his or her resources, but includes income from such property in such individuals earned income. Requires States to provide Medicaid coverage (under title XIX of the Act) for all SSI blind or disabled children.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1989
Amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to permit blind beneficiaries to select the agency or organization to which they will be referred for vocational rehabilitation services. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether the agency or organization is an appropriate choice given each beneficiary's particular needs. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory panel on rehabilitation services for the blind, a majority of which shall consist of blind consumers of rehabilitation services, to develop guidelines and standards for the provision of such services to the blind and to assist the Secretary in determining which agencies or organizations meet the needs of blind beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1989
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1989 - Title I: General Requirements for Family Leave and Medical Leave - Entitles employees to family leave for specified periods in cases involving the birth, adoption, foster care, or serious health condition of a child or the serious health condition of a parent. Entitles employees to temporary medical leave for specified periods in cases involving inability to work because of a serious health condition. Sets forth conditions for certification for such types of leave. Provides that such leave may be without pay. Allows employees to substitute other types of paid leave to cover part of such leave period. Sets forth employment and benefits protections relating to such leave. Provides for administrative enforcement of this title by the Secretary of Labor, as well as enforcement by civil action. Requires employers to post notice of the pertinent provisions of this title. Title II: Family Leave and Temporary Medical Leave for Civil Service Employees - Amends specified Federal law to entitle civil service employees to family and temporary medical leave for specified periods. Provides that such leave will be without pay. Allows employees to substitute other types of paid leave for part of such leave. Provides for protection for job position and health insurance benefits of employees using such leave. Directs the Office of Personnel Management to prescribe regulations for administration of this title which are consistent with the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Labor under title I of this Act. Title III: Commission on Family and Medical Leave - Establishes the Commission on Family and Medical Leave. Requires the Commission to report on its study of family and medical leave (which may include legislative recommendations concerning coverage of small businesses) to the Congress within two years after the Commission first meets. Terminates the Commission within 30 days after its final report. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth the effect of this Act on existing laws and existing employment benefits. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting more generous leave policies. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out title I of this Act within 60 days.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1989
Establishes the Medicare Geographical Classification Review Board to decide on a rural hospital's application for classification as an urban hospital for Medicare payment purposes. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to alter the Rural Health Care Transition Grant Program to extend and increase authorized appropriations for such program through FY 1992, and permit the Secretary to waive the hospital grant limit. Expands, from four to ten hospitals, a Medicare demonstration program covering additional costs incurred by teaching hospitals in sending their residents to rural hospitals for training. Requires the Secretary to establish five-year Medicare demonstration programs covering costs incurred by five hospitals in providing clinical training to undergraduate nurses. Extends the regional referral center classification of hospitals so classified as of September 30, 1989, and the payment rates applicable to such hospitals under the Medicare program, through FY 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1989
Homeownership Assistance Act of 1989 - Amends the National Housing Act to create a special mortgage insurance program for first-time homebuyers. Defines "first-time homebuyer" as an individual who or whose spouse has not owned a principal residence during the 18 months prior to a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured home purchase. Authorizes downpayment reductions. Authorizes an FHA demonstration program to insure 100 percent of a home's value for a first-time homebuyer. Authorizes FHA to insure adjustable rate mortgages with annual interest rate increases of up to two percent (currently one percent). Repeals the aggregate annual limit. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to provide for secondary market purchases of such downpayment mortgage loans. Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to exempt such loans from specified offset debt collection provisions. Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to submit annual program reports to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1989
State Grain Fund Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the United States Warehouse Act to permit States to require federally licensed grain warehouses to participate in State grain indemnity funds or to require collateral security.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1989
Calls for: (1) continued support for the Cooperative Extension System; and (2) commemoration on May 8, 1989, of the 75th anniversary of the enactment of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1989
American Conservation and Youth Service Corps Act of 1989 - Title I: American Conservation Corps - Establishes the American Conservation Corps (ACC), to be administered by Federal agencies and through a State grant component. Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and of Agriculture to establish the Federal component of the ACC within their agencies to administer programs on Federal lands. Encourages Federal agencies to enter into program agreements with program agencies, local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program of grants to States to administer the State component of the ACC involving work on non-Federal public lands and waters. Directs each Governor to designate a State program agency. Authorizes any local government to establish a program agency to carry out the State component within its political subdivision if the State program agency has not been designated at the commencement of a fiscal year. Requires States carrying out such programs to provide mechanisms for participation by local governments and nonprofit organizations. Authorizes the ACC to carry out conservation, rehabilitation, and improvement projects relating to: (1) wildlife habitat, rangelands, parks, recreational areas; (2) urban revitalization and historical and cultural sites; (3) fish and fisheries; (4) roads and trails; (5) erosion, floods, droughts, and storm damage assistance and control; (6) streams, lakes, waterfront harbors, and ports; (7) wetlands protection and pollution control; (8) insect, disease, rodent, and fire prevention and control; (9) improvement of abandoned railroad beds and rights-of-way; (10) energy conservation, renewable resources, and biomass recovery; (11) reclamation and improvement of strip-mined land; and (12) forestry, nursery, and cultural operations. Limits such projects to those on public lands or Indian lands, except where the administering Secretary determines that a project involving other lands will provide a public benefit. Encourages any land or water conservation or related program administered in any State under authority of any Federal program to use ACC services. Title II: Youth Service Corps - Requires the Director of the ACTION Agency to appoint an Assistant Director to make grants for youth service projects to eligible public and private nonprofit agencies, and to otherwise administer Youth Service Corps (YSC) programs under this title. Provides for designation of specific activities as eligible service categories if: (1) they are of substantial social benefit in meeting unmet human, social (especially poverty-related), or environmental needs in a community; (2) they will not interfere unreasonably with employment availability and terms of employees of sponsoring organizations; and (3) participants are qualified for such activities. Allows such service categories to include service in: (1) State, local, and regional governmental agencies; (2) nursing homes, hospices, senior centers, hospitals, local libraries, parks, recreational facilities, day care centers, and schools; (3) law enforcement, penal, and probation agencies; (4) private nonprofit social services organizations; (5) rehabilitation or improvement of public facilities or neighborhoods, literacy programs, weatherization and repair of low-income housing, energy conservation (including solar energy), removal of public facility architectural barriers to the handicapped, and conservation, maintenance, or restoration of natural resources on publicly held lands; and (6) any other nonpartisan civic activities and services determined appropriate by the Assistant Director. Prohibits such service categories from including any position in any: (1) business organized for profit; (2) labor union; (3) partisan political organization; (4) religious organization, unless the position does not involve any religious functions; or (5) domestic or personal service organization. Title III: Youth Skills Enhancement - Requires the administering Secretary or the Assistant Director (as the case may be) to provide guidance and assistance to States in securing certification of training skills or academic credit for competencies developed under this Act. Directs each program agency to: (1) maintain or enhance, through programs and projects under this Act, the educational skills of program enrollees; (2) assess an entering enrollee's educational level; (3) use at least ten percent of program funds to provide in-service training and educational materials and services for enrollees and persons serving in such projects; and (4) use at least ten percent of program funds for post-service education and training assistance. Directs appropriate State and local officials to certify standards and procedures for awarding academic credit and certifying educational attainment in such programs. Requires such standards and procedures to specify that any person serving in a program or project under this Act: (1) who is not a high school graduate shall participate in an educational component progressing toward a high school diploma or its equivalent; and (2) may arrange to receive academic credit in recognition of learning and skills obtained from service satisfactorily completed. Title IV: Administrative Provisions - Sets forth: (1) requirements for award of grants to eligible entities, including matching requirements and limitations on use of funds; and (2) provisions for approval of applications and supervision of programs. Limits enrollment in the ACC and YSC to individuals who, at the time of enrollment, are: (1) 16 through 25 years old; and (2) U.S. citizens or nationals or lawful permanent resident aliens. Requires that special efforts be made to recruit individuals who are economically, socially, physically, and educationally disadvantaged. Prohibits acceptance for service of any person without a high school diploma or equivalent, unless that person has not been enrolled as a high school student during the three months before the acceptance date. Limits individual enrollment to a total of 24 months. Prohibits individuals (except special members) from remaining enrolled after attaining age 26. Prohibits any enrollee from performing services on any project for more than a six-month period. Requires the State job training coordinating council to appoint an advisory board for oversight and review of projects under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 and succeeding fiscal years to carry out this Act. Title V: Commission on National Service Opportunities - Establishes the Commission on National Service Opportunities to study: (1) opportunities for young people to perform voluntary national service; and (2) the effect on Federal and other employees of improving the quality and expanding the number of such opportunities. Requires the Commission's final report and recommendations to be transmitted to the President and the Congress within 15 months after its first meeting. Requires each executive department and agency affected by such report to submit to the President recommendations for implementing it. Directs the President, within 90 days after the Commission's final report is transmitted to the Congress, to transmit an interim report to the Congress on: (1) the desirability, feasibility, and cost of implementing the Commission's recommendations, and the actions taken or planned with respect to that implementation; and (2) recommendations on legislation needed for implementation. Directs the President to transmit a final report, within 90 days after such interim report, detailing any implementing actions taken and any further recommendations. Terminates the Commission 180 days after its final report.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1989
Truth in Savings Act - Requires each advertisement, announcement, or solicitation by a depository institution which refers to a specific interest rate, yield, or rate of earnings on amounts deposited in a demand or interest-bearing account to state the following information clearly and conspicuously: (1) the annual percentage yield and the period such yield is in effect; (2) all minimum initial deposit, minimum balance, and time requirements for earning such yield; (3) the annual rates of simple interest; (4) fees or other conditions that could reduce the yield; (5) any interest penalty for early withdrawal; and (6) the effective percentage yield on the maturity date of any account maturing in less than one year. Authorizes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to exempt advertisements, announcements, or solicitations made by any broadcast or electronic medium or outdoor advertising displays not on the premises of a depository institution from the disclosure requirements relating to initial deposit requirements, rates of simple interest, or fees if such disclosure would be unnecessarily burdensome. Prohibits any depository institution from advertising an account as a free or no-cost account if: (1) there are minimum balance or limited transaction requirements to avoid fees; or (2) there is any service fee, transaction fee, or similar charge imposed for such account. Prohibits any institution from making any advertisement, announcement, or solicitation that is inaccurate or misleading or that misrepresents its deposit contracts. Requires each depository institution to maintain a schedule, written in clear and plain language, of fees, charges, interest rates, and terms and conditions such as minimum balance and time requirements applicable to each class of accounts offered. Requires that such schedule be disclosed to potential customers and requesting individuals and mailed to account holders. Requires that account holders receive 30 days' advance notice of any change to be made in any term or condition required to be disclosed in the schedule if the change might reduce the yield or adversely affect any account holder. Directs the Board to require modified disclosure requirements concerning the annual yield on variable rate accounts, multiple rate accounts, guaranteed-rate accounts that mature in less than one year, and accounts for which the interest rate is not guaranteed. Directs the Board to provide for public notice and comment on, and to publish, model forms and clauses for common disclosures required by this Act. Provides for the enforcement of this Act and the civil liability of a depository institution that fails to comply with requirements of this Act. Sets forth limitations on such liability and factors to be considered by the court in determining class action awards. Provides that an institution may not be held liable for a violation if the institution demonstrates that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error. Establishes U.S. district court jurisdiction and a one-year statute of limitations for actions brought under this Act. Directs the National Credit Union Administration to provide for the similar regulation of credit unions.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1989
Northern Ireland Fair Employment Practices Act - Prohibits an article from being imported into the United States from Northern Ireland unless documentation is presented at the time of entry indicating that the enterprise which manufactured or assembled such article complied at the time of manufacture with certain fair employment principles (such as freedom from religious discrimination). Bases such principles on the MacBride Principles, a nine point set of guidelines for fair employment in Northern Ireland. Requires any U.S. person who has a branch or office in Northern Ireland or who controls an enterprise in Northern Ireland in which more than 20 people are employed to insure implementation of such employment principles and compliance with this Act. Requires reports to the Secretary of Commerce on compliance with this Act. Sets forth the fair employment principles. Authorizes the President to waive the requirements of this Act in the interest of national security. Requires such waiver to become effective 90 days after the President submits a justification of such waiver to the Congress unless the Congress adopts a joint resolution disapproving the waiver. Provides for expedited consideration of such resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for interest on any indebtedness incurred to pay the educational expenses of the taxpayer, spouse, or dependent. (Under current law, such a loan must be secured by an interest in real property.)
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1989
Protect Medicare 90 Concurrent Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) hospital payments for FY 1990 should not be reduced below levels set by current law for such fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1989
State Energy Conservation Programs Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to mandate that each State energy conservation plan which receives Federal assistance under the Act contain a specified reduction in energy consumption as one of its goals. Adds to Federal assistance eligibility prerequisites for proposed State energy conservation plans, including an emergency planning program for energy supply disruption. Cites optional State energy conservation programs. Repeals the mandate for supplemental State energy conservation plans. Authorizes appropriations for energy conservation programs for FY 1990 through 1992. Establishes within the Department of Energy a State Energy Advisory Board to report annually to the Congress regarding recommended energy efficiency objectives, the technology transfer aspect of Federal research and development with respect to energy efficiency and renewable resources, and recommended changes with respect to State and Federal energy policies. Authorizes the use of loan programs and performance contracting for the non-Federal share of energy conservation project costs under the grant program. Cites conditions under which the Secretary is authorized to approve a State application for a waiver of: (1) the requirement that at least 40 percent of Federal weatherization assistance for low-income persons be used for weatherization materials; and (2) the limitations placed upon expenditures per dwelling unit for weatherization measures. Terminates the Performance Fund used for State weatherization assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1989
Economic Conversion Act of 1989 - Title I: Economic Stabilization and Revitalization Pilot Program - Amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to authorize the President to make grants for job retraining programs and planning for alternative production required by the cancellation of major defense contracts (or reductions of $10,000,000 or more in the value of such contracts) during FY 1990 through 1994. Permits one grant for each defense contract cancellation or reduction. Requires the administration of such grants at the local level by a capable unit of general local government or, through default, by the collective bargaining agents of affected employees. Directs the President to make weekly economic adjustment assistance payments to employees affected by such a cancellation or reduction of a contract during FY 1990 through 1994. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of such assistance, making allowances for unemployment compensation or public assistance received and health insurance coverage needed. Sets forth assistance application procedures and notification requirements. Makes available for such grants and assistance payments the amount of previously-appropriated funds which the United States will save as a result of the cancellation or reduction of a defense contract. Title II: Prenotification of Base Closures and Defense-Related Contract Cancellations - Directs the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Economic Adjustment Committee, to notify State and local governments and regional organizations within a specified period of time of the proposed realignment or closure of a military installation, the cancellation or termination of a defense contract, or the failure to proceed with an approved major weapon system program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1989
Community and Jobs Protection Act of 1989 - Requires each corporation involved in a proposed merger to file a community impact statement if: (1) a premerger notification is required under the Clayton Act; and (2) the merger will result in a loss of jobs in any jurisdiction for more than 100 employees of an establishment of one of the corporations involved. Requires the statement to be submitted to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice, the employees of each corporation involved and representatives of their labor unions, and the local governments of the areas where establishments of such corporations are located on the same day that the premerger notification is filed under the Clayton Act. Directs the FTC, if it receives a request within a specified period from such a local government or from ten percent of the employees of one of the corporations, to hold public hearings on and investigate the statement to determine: (1) the economic reasons for any proposed reduction in employment; (2) the estimated economic losses to employees, the local government, and persons in the geographic area of the establishment; and (3) recommendations of any local government, any employee labor union, or any other person respecting the proposed merger. Directs the FTC to publish a report containing the findings of the investigation and recommendations as to whether legal action should be taken to halt the merger. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow a tax deduction for interest on obligations issued to finance a corporate merger that the FTC finds will adversely affect employment in any jurisdiction.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1989
Agricultural Commodity-Based Plastics Development Act of 1989 - Directs the Administrator of the General Services Administration to encourage the development and use of degradable agricultural commodity-based plastic through a system of preferential Government procurement. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1992 appropriations to pay the difference in costs between conventional products and degradable plastic products. Directs the Administrator to establish an interagency working group to coordinate activities under this Act. Requires annual reports to the appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1989
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) increase from 25 percent to 100 percent the allowable deduction; and (2) make the deduction permanent (under current law it will expire after tax year 1989).
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1989
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the right to life is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person. Defines "person" to include the unborn for the purpose of the right to life guarantee. States that nothing in this article shall prohibit a law allowing medical procedures required to prevent the death of either the pregnant woman or the unborn offspring.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1989
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to grant special immigrant status to an alien service member or veteran who has served honorably in the U.S. armed forces for four years and to any accompanying spouse and children.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1989
Repeals provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 that establish nondiscrimination requirements for coverage and benefits under certain statutory employee benefit plans. (The consequence is the repeal of section 89 of the Internal Revenue Code.)
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1989
Flight Attendant Duty Time Act - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish limitations on duty time for flight attendants. Requires the Secretary to issue final regulations by a specified deadline. Prohibits any air carrier from operating an aircraft using a flight attendant who has been on duty in excess of specified hours or who has had less than a specified number of hours of rest if such regulations have not been promulgated by a certain time. Permits modification of the specified hours of duty if the Secretary determines such modification is in the public interest and submits a copy of the modifying regulations to certain congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1989
Equal Opportunity for Medical Licensure and Reciprocity Act of 1989 - Prohibits discrimination against any person who graduated from a medical school outside the United States and who is a licensed physician in the United States: (1) in equal access to practice medicine within any U.S. jurisdiction; (2) by law, regulation, policy, or requirements; and (3) by conditions or requirements which differ from the conditions or requirements as applied to graduates of U.S. medical schools. Applies the prohibition to any medical specialty as well as to the general practice of medicine. Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from making a grant, loan guarantee, or interest subsidy to, or for the benefit of, any school of medicine, unless the application contains assurances that the school will not discriminate against a graduate of a non-U.S. medical school. Requires States to adopt medical licensure and medical reciprocity standards which provide equal opportunity to any graduate of a non-U.S. medical school, as compared to any graduate of a U.S. medical school, provided the non-U.S. medical school graduate has completed the U.S. postgraduate training and obtained a license to practice medicine in any U.S. State.
![Official portrait of Rep. Costello, Jerry F. [D-IL-12]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000794_200.jpg)