United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1987
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses to: (1) make the credit refundable; (2) increase the amount of the credit from 30 percent to 50 percent of the relevant expenses, reduced (but not below 20 percent) by one percent for each full $1,000 amount by which the taxpayer's adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds $15,000, subject to an annual adjustment for inflation (the current reduction is one percent for each $2,000 in excess of $10,000 AGI with no provision for a cost of living adjustment); and (3) apply the credit to expenses for certain respite care of qualifying dependents of the taxpayer. Permits credit for up to $1,200 of respite care expenses ($2,400 in the case of more than one qualifying individual) incurred in the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is at least 15 years old; or (2) a spouse or other dependent of the taxpayer who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1987
Designates the week beginning June 21, 1987, as National Outward Bound Week in honor of the 25th anniversary of the first Outward Bound Outdoor Recreational Program offered in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1987
Amends the Clean Air Act to limit permit terms for new major stationary sources of pollutants in nonattainment areas, requiring compliance with the expiring conditions and with the lowest achievable emission rate determined at the time of reissuance.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1987
Authorizes and directs the President to call on representatives of the broadcasting industry, in cooperation with public health organizations, to provide free air time to private and government organizations for antismoking public service announcements which educate the public about the dangers of cigarette smoking.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1987
Provides for the appointment of a delegation of Members of Congress to participate in ceremonies to be held in New York City in April 1989 commemorating the 200th anniversaries of: (1) the implementation of the Constitution as the form of government of the United States; (2) the inauguration of George Washington as the first President; and (3) the proposal of the Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Invites the President to join the delegation in participating in the ceremonies.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1987
Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1987 - Requires that all telephones sold, rented, or otherwise distributed in the United States be hearing aid compatible, except telephones that are manufactured before the effective date of this Act or that are not required to be registered with the Federal Communications Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Rural Letter Carriers Tax Simplification Act - Provides that, for taxable years beginning after 1986, rural mail carriers are permitted to compute the amount of the income tax deduction for use of their automobiles in performance of mail services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) without applying the limitation on deductions generally applicable in cases when the business use of the automobile accounts for 50 percent, or less, of its use. Prohibits the use of 150 percent of the basic standard mileage rate in determining the allowable deduction if the taxpayer claims an investment tax credit or depreciation deduction for such automobile.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require foods to include on their labeling the presence and amount of any palm, palm kernel, or coconut oil along with a statement that such oil(s) is a saturated fat.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
National Advanced Technician Training Act - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to carry out an advanced technician training program, making matching grants to two-year community and technical colleges to provide training in technical competencies in strategic fields. Requires such program to emphasize on-the-job training and recruitment of the unemployed. Requires that an inventory of available programs be accessible. Requires the Director to appoint a National Advisory Council on Advanced Technician Training to review and report to the Director and to the Congress on the effectiveness of the program, with recommendations as needed. Requires the Director to designate ten centers of excellence among such colleges to serve as clearinghouses, half for advanced technician training and half for undergraduate education in mathematics and science. Requires the Director to make at least 20 grants annually. Requires that funds under this Act be used to strengthen programs in advanced-technology occupations, for faculty development in advanced-technology fields such as laser, robotic, and computer technology, and the development of cooperative training and information networks with other schools and the private sector. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act to establish a program under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) will make grants to States for the provision of foster care and adoption assistance to children. Sets forth eligibility criteria to be met by States requesting grants, including the submission to the Secretary of a plan, which, among other required contents, must provide for: (1) merit-based personnel standards in operating the grant programs; (2) monitoring and periodic evaluation of the State's foster care and adoption assistance activities; (3) specific program goals and a description of how the State will proceed to achieve them; (4) the development of a case plan for each child and of a case review system; and (5) incentives for foster care facilities to work with adoption agencies in arranging for the permanent adoption of children who cannot be reunited with their parents. Directs the Secretary to discontinue or reduce payments to any State that fails to comply with grant requirements relating to its plan. Describes criteria to be met by both a case plan and a case review system implemented as components of the State plan. Requires the latter to assure that: (1) each child's case plan is designed to achieve placement in the most family-like setting available and in close proximity to the parents' home, consistent with the best interest and special needs of the child; (2) each child's status is reviewed at least once every six months; and (3) certain procedural safeguards will be applied, including a hearing, within a specified time following initial placement, to determine the child's future placement status. Directs the Secretary to conduct periodic evaluations of programs developed under this Act. Requires each grantee State to submit certain statistical reports with respect to children assisted under grant programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
Elderly Victims of Crime Act of 1987 - Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to require States (in order to receive grants from the Crime Victims Fund) to certify that priority will be given to eligible programs which provide assistance to elderly crime victims.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
Elder Abuse Information Act of 1987 - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) acquire statistical data about the incidence of elder abuse for 1988 and 1989 and publish annual summaries of such data; and (2) modify the uniform crime reporting program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to include data, for types of offenses that may involve elder abuse, on the age of the victim and the victim's relationship to the offender.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Makes permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that would terminate such credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful for an employer to monitor an employee's work phone call unless a repeating audible warning tone is utilized. Allows any person whose call is monitored in violation of this Act to recover civil damages.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1987
Magnet Schools Assistance Reauthorization Act of 1987 - Amends the Education for Economic Security Act to increase the FY 1988 amount of the authorization of appropriations for magnet school assistance and to extend such authorization of appropriations through FY 1993. Prohibits the Secretary of Education from making a determination about the award of funds under the magnet school assistance program solely on the basis of whether an applicant received an award in a prior fiscal year. Limits to 15 percent that portion of funds available for each fiscal year for purposes of the magnet school assistance program that may remain available for obligation and expenditure during the succeeding fiscal year. Prohibits the Secretary from reducing any payment under such program for any fiscal year by any amount on the basis of availability of funds pursuant to specified provisions of the General Education Provisions Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1987
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to provide that, with respect to the sale, consignment, or distribution of motor fuel, the term "franchise" includes any contract between specified parties which is economically necessary to the operation of the leased marketing premises. Provides that the termination or non-renewal of a franchise relationship, upon expiration of an underlying lease for a marketing premises, is reasonable in the event that the franchisor: (1) has an option to renew or purchase an underlying lease or premises and, at least 90 days before such option expires, provides the franchisee with the name, address, and phone number of the owner or lessor; and (2) agrees not to terminate the franchise relationship solely because of the lease and option expiration during any term during which the franchisee is able to retain possession of the premises as a result of entering into an agreement with the owner or lessor.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1987
Minimum Wage Restoration Act of 1987 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for specified annual increases in the minimum wage. Provides, after such increases reach a certain level, for annual indexing of the minimum wage to 50 percent of the average hourly rate in the private sector.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax exclusion for amounts received under qualified group legal services plans. (Present law terminates such exclusion after December 31, 1987.)
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Family Welfare Reform Act of 1987 - Declares that, hereafter, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (part A of title IV of the Social Security Act) shall be known as the Family Support Program and the aid paid to needy families with dependent children shall be called family support supplements. Title I: National Education, Training, and Work (Network) Program - Amends the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program to require States to establish an education, training, and work program (program) which helps needy children and parents avoid long-term welfare dependence. Requires private sector involvement in planning and Program design to assure that participants are trained for jobs that will actually be available in the community. Requires adult recipients of family support supplements to participate in the Program if it is available in the political subdivision where he or she resides and State resources otherwise permit. Directs the State to fully inform such recipients of the opportunities offered under the Program. Lists recipients who are exempt from mandatory participation in the Program, including individuals who: (1) are ill, incapacitated, pregnant, or age 60 or older; (2) are needed at home due to the illness or incapacity of another family member; (3) work 20 or more hours a week; or (4) care for a child under age six, but such exception shall apply to only one parent in two-parent families. Authorizes States to require the participation of an otherwise exempt parent or relative of a child under age six if day or infant care is guaranteed by the State and participation is on a part-time basis. Directs States to actively encourage exempt supplement recipients to participate in the Program. Provides that if the adult family caretaker is attending a school or a course in vocational or technical training designed to lead to employment when he or she would otherwise commence participation in the Program, such attendance may constitute satisfactory participation in the Program, though the costs of such school or training shall not be covered by the Family Support Program. Directs States to give priority in Program participation to families: (1) with teenage parents and parents who were under age 18 when their first child was born; (2) that have been receiving family support supplements continuously for two or more years; and (3) with children under age six. Requires States to make an initial assessment of the educational needs, skills, and employability of each Program participant and on that basis develop an employability plan for the participant's family which, to the maximum extent possible, reflects the participant's preferences. Requires each participant to then negotiate a contract with the State which specifies the duration of his or her participation as well as the activities the State will conduct and services it will provide in the course of such participation. Directs the State to assign a case manager to each participating family who is responsible for obtaining, on the family's behalf, any other services which may assure the family's effective participation. Requires State Programs to provide a broad range of services and activities, including: (1) high school or equivalent education; (2) remedial education; (3) job search, training and placement services; and (4) counseling, information, and referral for participants experiencing personal and family problems which may be affecting their ability to work. Requires that children in participating families be encouraged to engage in the education or training activities available under the Program and be provided with additional services and incentives designed to keep them in school and help them obtain marketable job skills. Requires each work assignment to be consistent with the physical capacity, skills, experience, health, family responsibilities, and place of residence of each participant. Prohibits work assignments which displace a currently employed worker or position, impair existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements, or fill the job of a worker who has been laid off or fired. Establishes a complaint procedure for employees who allege that such prohibitions have been violated. Prohibits States from requiring participants to work at less than the minimum wage or accept a job which would result in a loss of income to the participant or his or her family. Requires that Program activities be coordinated with Job Training Partnership Act programs and any other relevant employment, training, and education programs available in the State. Authorizes any State to institute a work supplementation program under which such State reserves that sums which would otherwise be payable to program participants as family support supplements and uses such sums instead to subsidize jobs for such participants. Authorizes any State to establish a community work experience program to provide experience and training for individuals not otherwise able to obtain employment. Limits such programs to projects which serve a useful public purpose utilizing, if possible, the participant's prior training, experience, and skills. Limits community work program participants to work or training (or both) for up to 12 months or unpaid work experience or training for up to three months. Requires that: (1) a reassessment be made and a new employability plan developed for participants who do not obtain employment after participation in a community work program; and (2) other Program activities be coordinated with the community work program so that job placement has priority over participation in such program. Prohibits an individual from participating in job search without participating in one or more other Program services or activities if job search has continued for eight weeks or longer without the individual obtaining a job. Provides that when a mandatory Program participant fails without good cause to comply with any requirement imposed on his or her participation in such Program: (1) such participant's needs shall not be taken into account in determining the family support supplement; or (2) supplements shall be denied to all family members until the participant complys. Continues sanctions for a minimum of three months if the participant failed to comply on a previous occasion. Directs States, after three months of a participant's noncompliance, to remind the participant in writing of his or her option to end the sanction. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) publish final regulations and performance standards for such Programs within one year of this Act's enactment; (2) develop a legislative proposal for modifying the Federal AFDC matching rate so that it reflects the relative effectiveness of the various States in carrying out the Programs; and (3) provide for the continuing evaluation of State Programs and the conduct of research on making such Programs more effective. Directs the Secretary to establish uniform reporting requirements requiring each State to periodically furnish Program information to the Secretary, including the average monthly number and types of families assisted under each Program service and activity, the amounts expended on such families, and the length of time for which such families are assisted. Sets the federal matching rate at 75 percent of the expenditures for the operation and administration of the State Program if at least three-fifths of the non-Federal share is contributed in cash and at 50 percent if less than such amount is in cash. Broadens the definition of a "dependent child" to authorize States to provide benefits for individuals under age 21 who are regularly attending a course of higher, secondary, or primary education or vocational or technical training. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe a standard for determining whether an individual is employed at the time of his or her application for family support supplements which is based upon whether or not the applicant has performed a specific number of hours of work within a designated period. Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Act to authorize States to conduct demonstration projects testing financial incentives and interdisciplinary approaches to reducing school dropouts, encouraging skill development, and avoiding the welfare dependence of children receiving family support supplements. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in financing such projects. Title II: Day Care, Transportation, and Other Work-Related Expenses - Requires States to either: (1) provide day care for dependent children and incapacitated individuals living in the same home as a dependent child; or (2) reimburse the caretaker relative for the cost of such care, if and to the extent that such care is directly related to an individual's participation in the Program, reasonably necessary for such participation, and cost-effective. Provides coverage for certain transportation and other work-related costs. Continues day care coverage for one year after a family's eligibility for support supplements ceases, but permits States to reduce such coverage on the basis of a family's ability to pay. Directs States to regularly assess the availability and reliability of child care services available to Program participants, and, when necessary, develop new child care resources. Title III: Real Work Incentives - Excludes, in determining a family's eligibility for supplement payments: (1) the earned income of students who are not full-time employees; (2) $100 plus 25 percent of any family member's monthly earned income; (3) $100 of monthly family support payments; and (4) earned income credits payable to the family under the Internal Revenue Code. Prohibits application of the $100 and 25 percent earned income exclusion in the case of individuals who, without good cause: (1) terminate their employment or reduce their income; (2) refuse a bona fide offer of employment; or (3) fail to make a timely report of their monthly earned income. Authorizes States to increase the amount of an individual's earned income excluded under this Act in making family support supplement eligibility determinations. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude any benefit provided under any Federal, State, or local governmental assistance program for the support of the individual or for maintenance of the household in determining whether a taxpayer is providing such support or maintenance. Title IV: Transitional Services for Families - Requires a State to continue a family's Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) eligibility for one year (a State may provide a two-year continuance of such eligibility) after the family's eligibility for family support supplements ends, unless such eligibility was terminated due to fraud or the imposition of a sanction. Terminates extended Medicaid coverage if the family ceases to include a dependent child or a family member engages in certain conduct which would warrant sanctions under the Family Support Program. Title V: Child Support Enforcement Amendments - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Act to direct States to: (1) establish binding guidelines for child support award determinations (currently, such guidelines need not be binding); and (2) periodically review and update all child support orders to ensure that they continue to comply with child support award guidelines. Requires States to abide by State procedural due process requirements when updating child support awards and notify absent parents of their right to contest the award. Requires that, to the extent possible, the paternity of a child be established at birth. Excludes the cost of paternity determinations as well as the cost of certain interstate child support enforcement projects from the computation of the incentive payment to a State for collecting child support payments. Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Act to authorize States to conduct demonstration projects identifying and testing possible solutions to problems arising in connection with visitation by absent parents. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in financing such projects. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish time limits within which a State must respond to requests for assistance in locating absent parents or establishing paternity, and begin proceedings to establish child support awards. Makes it mandatory that States establish an automatic data processing and information retrieval system for the child support enforcement and establishment of paternity determination process. Title VI: Pro-Family Welfare Policies - Requires States to pay family support supplements with respect to dependent children of unemployed parents in two-parent families. Includes within the definition "quarter of work", for the purpose of determining a family's eligibility for assistance, the parent's: (1) full-time attendance as an elementary or secondary school student; (2) full-time attendance in a vocational or technical training course; and (3) participation in a Job Training Partnership Act education or training program. Directs States to assign an individual case manager to each family receiving family support supplements which is headed by a minor parent. Requires unmarried minor parents to live with a parent, legal guardian, other adult relative, or in a foster home, maternity home, or other supportive living arrangement, unless the State determines that, given specified circumstances, it is impossible or inappropriate for them to do so. Treats the minor parent and minor parent's children as a family separate from the parent and parent's children with whom the minor parent resides in determining the minor parent's eligibility for supplement payments. Authorizes States to condition a minor parent's eligibility on his or her: (1) part-time school attendance; or (2) training in parenting and family living skills. Sets the Federal share of the cost of providing case management services for minor parents at 75 percent. Title VII: Benefit Improvements - Directs each State to re-evaluate annually its need and payment standard under the Family Support Program, giving particular attention to whether the amount it has assumed to be necessary for shelter is adequate. Sets forth reporting requirements. Increases the Federal share of a State's Family Support program costs if such State increases the level of family support supplement payments after FY 1987. Sets a mandatory State Family Support program benefit level to be implemented five years after this Act's enactment. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture to appoint an advisory group to make recommendations to the President and the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment regarding the coordination of the food stamp program under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and the Family Support Program. Directs the Secretary to establish uniform reporting requirements requiring each State to periodically furnish the Secretary with information regarding the implementation of the Family Support Program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Fair Trade and Economic Justice Act - Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) promote an open and fair international trading system; (2) strengthen international trading rules to renounce the exploitation of workers in order to gain a competitive advantage in international trade; and (3) treat as an unfair trade practice any competitive advantage derived from denial of workers' rights. Title I: Negotiating Objectives Regarding the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and Enforcement of Internationally Recognized Worker Rights - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to include among the actions to be taken on trade agreements the enhancement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) through: (1) the adoption of an additional GATT article declaring that the exploitation of workers is an unjustifiable means for a country to gain a competitive trade advantage; (2) the amendment of the GATT to affirm such principle; or (3) the adoption and implementation of a code on internationally recognized worker rights. Prohibits the President from entering into any negotiation with respect to any trade agreement unless the President first reports to specified congressional committees on the actions that will be taken to protect workers' rights and to redress the trade disadvantage of countries that rely primarily on direct taxes for revenue needs. Prohibits any trade agreement entered into after enactment of this Act from taking effect with respect to the United States unless the President consults with specified congressional committees on the progress being made to protect workers' rights. Title II: Enforcement of United States Rights Under Trade Agreements and Response to Certain Foreign Practices - Authorizes the President, in response to certain unfair foreign trade practices, to deny nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) to imports from a country that engages in such practices. Adds to the definition of "unreasonable" trade acts, policies, or practices: (1) toleration of cartels; and (2) denial of internationally recognized workers' rights. Provides that petitioners for relief from unfair trade practices shall be persons with substantial evidence. Requires persons who request hearings in unfair trade practice cases to be persons with substantial evidence. (Currently any interested person may petition for relief and may request a hearing in such cases.) Requires the U.S. Trade Representative to submit recommendations to the President within nine months of the start of an investigation into unfair trade practices if the petition alleges that the unfair trade practice involves denial of internationally recognized workers' rights.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1987 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion for employee educational assistance programs. (Present law terminates such exclusion as of December 31, 1987.) Requires, for every taxable year beginning after 1988, an annual cost of living adjustment of the maximum excludable amount. Waives the maximum excludable amount for any educational assistance furnished by certain educational institutions to graduate students engaged in teaching or research activities for such organization.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
WIC Food for Life Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) should receive increasing appropriations until all eligible persons are being served; and (2) an outreach program should be conducted to identify persons eligible for WIC assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Consumer Products Safe Testing Act - Expresses congressional findings that: (1) the Federal Government has encouraged the use of the LD50 test through regulations which mandate or encourage its use or do not prescribe other less costly, more accurate, and more humane alternatives; and (2) private industry is reluctant to use these other tests without Federal Government encouragement. (LD50 is a procedure whereby toxicity is measured in terms of the median dose that will kill 50 percent of the test animals within a specified time.) Prohibits Federal department or agency heads from considering LD50 test results when determining product safety, labeling, or transportation requirements for purposes of Federal regulation. Requires Federal department and agency heads to: (1) review and evaluate directives that call for the use of an animal toxicity test; and (2) promulgate regulations specifying the use of nonanimal alternatives. Permits the use of animal toxicity tests under certain conditions. Requires that animal toxicity testing regulations be subject to periodic agency review and to public comment in certain cases.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Federal Council on Women Act - Establishes a Federal Council on Women to: (1) collect and evaluate information with respect to any problems that are particular to women in the United States; (2) review and evaluate Federal policy related to any such problems; (3) coordinate the activities of the Council with similar activities conducted by States, local governments, and concerned organizations; and (4) make recommendations. Directs the Council to report its findings and recommendations to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1987
Prohibits any investments in South Africa by U.S. persons. Prohibits the importation into the United States of any article from South Africa, except for strategic minerals which the President certifies to the Congress are essential for military uses, are not sufficiently available from domestic supplies, and for which no substitutes are available. Prohibits the exportation to South Africa of any goods, technology, or other information subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Prohibits any such exportation by any person subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Exempts from such prohibition certain medical supplies and food. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to prohibit the takeoff and landing of any aircraft except for emergencies by a foreign air carrier owned by South Africa or South African nationals. Prohibits the importation into the United States of any South African gold coin. Prohibits any U.S. depository institution from accepting, receiving, or holding a deposit account from South Africa. Prohibits the United States from engaging in any military or intelligence activities in cooperation with South Africa. Authorizes the President to limit imports into the United States from a foreign country to the extent that such foreign country benefits from, or takes commercial advantage of, any prohibition imposed by this Act. Provides for the enforcement of this Act. Repeals the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 and the amendments made by that Act to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1987
Deceptive Mailings to Senior Citizens Prevention Act of 1987 - Declares, as nonmailable matter, matter which constitutes a solicitation by a non-governmental entity: (1) for the purchase of products or services which are provided free of charge or at a lower price by the Social Security Administration or Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA); (2) for the purchase of products or services which contain a seal, insignia, trade or brand name, or any other term or symbol implying Social Security Administration or HCFA connection, approval, or endorsement; and (3) for the contribution of funds and which contains a seal, insignia, trade or brand name, or any other term implying Social Security Administration or HCFA connection, approval, or endorsement. Allows the mailing of such matter if it contains a conspicuous disclaimer that it is not a Government document. Establishes penalties for violations of this Act.