United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1989
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the Congress and the States shall have power to prohibit the act of desecration of the U.S. flag and to set criminal penalties for that act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1989
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that: (1) the misuse or desecration of the symbol, emblem, seal, or flag of the United States or of the several States is not protected speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and (2) the Congress and the legislatures of the several States shall have power to enforce the Article proposed by this Joint Resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1989
Expresses the concern of the House of Representatives regarding the future security of the Panama Canal. Calls on the President to renegotiate the Panama Canal Treaties to permit: (1) the permanent stationing of U.S. forces in Panama; and (2) the United States to act independently to maintain the security of the Canal and to guarantee its regular operation.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1989
Taxpayer and Environment Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny any deduction for loss from abandonment of a nuclear power plant if: (1) the taxpayer constructed or purchased such nuclear power plant which was granted a full power operating license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; (2) such taxpayer abandoned the plant; and (3) a State utility regulatory body permits the taxpayer any rate increase directly or indirectly related to such abandonment or sale. Provides that a transitional rule with respect to tax-exempt bond provisions under the Revenue Act of 1987 shall not apply to any bond unless the proceeds from the issuance of such bond are to be used to finance the acquisition of an operating facility.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1989
Workers' Political Rights Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to include political committees among those entities to which contributions by national banks, corporations, or labor organizations are restricted. Provides that communications to its members and their families and the establishment of, and solicitation of contributions for, a separate segregated political fund by a labor organization shall not be considered to be prohibited political contributions or expenditures only if such organization provides to employees it represents written notification of the following information: (1) that no employee is required to join the labor organization, and if the collective bargaining agreement purports to require membership in, or the payment of any amounts to, such organization, the employee instead may pay an agency fee to such organization; (2) the amount of the agency fee for the current year and the amount of union membership dues, initiation fees, and assessments for the current year; (3) that employees who choose to join the union will be subject to the labor organization's reasonable internal rules, regulations, and discipline; (4) that employees who resign from such organization may do so without being subject to internal union discipline for any post-resignation conduct; (5) that the amount of the agency fee for the current year is limited to the employee's pro rata cost of the labor organization's exclusive representation services to the collective bargaining unit; (6) that a procedure is in place to determine those costs which are chargeable to agency fee payors and such procedures are fully explained; and (7) that due regard is given to the fact that the labor organization holds a fiduciary position of trust with respect to the employees it represents and that the rights of employees to associate freely are not infringed any more than necessary for such organization to defray its reasonable costs of providing exclusive representation services. Requires a labor organization which does not provide employees with such notification to finance those political activities which are not considered contributions or expenditures with funds collected for its separate, segregated political fund.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the allocation and apportionment of qualified research and experimental expenditures to sources within and outside the United States for income tax purposes. Requires that any such expenditures made solely to meet a political jurisdiction's legal requirements concerning products or processes unlikely to yield extrajurisdictional income be allocated only to income within that political jurisdiction. Increases from 50 to 67 percent the amount of research and experimental expenditures that a company must allocate to income from U.S. sources. Requires companies to report on a consolidated basis with respect to the expenditures associated with these source rules.
United States · United States Congress · 1 June 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an affiliated group of financial institutions to elect not to be governed by a specified rule for allocating interest expenses to foreign sources of income.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1989
Older Americans' Freedom to Work Act of 1989 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should delay the implementation of the transfer to Panama of administrative authority and control of the Panama Canal for a period of twice the number of days during which: (1) General Manuel Noriega remains in Panama, or remains in any official position with the Government of Panama, after the date of the adoption of this resolution; or (2) the President determines that there is not a freely-elected democratic government in Panama.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Changes the date for which Memorial Day is designated as a legal public holiday from the last Monday in May to May 30. Changes Memorial Day as a particular day for displaying the flag from the last Monday in May to May 30. Makes Memorial Day an exception to the observance on Mondays.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the valuation of farmland for estate tax purposes to eliminate the limit on the reduction in fair market value of certain farmland if such land continues to be farmed for up to 30 years.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree on an estimate of total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year by enactment of a joint single subject resolution. Prohibits outlays for that year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding this amount unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of the total membership of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Limits assessments of underpayments with respect to taxable periods beginning before July 1, 1985, in connection with the annual $250 occupational tax on retail liquor and beer dealers. Abates assessments and refunds overpayments of any post-1987 tax.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1989
Davis-Bacon Reform Act of 1989 - Amends the Davis-Bacon Act to increase from $2,000 to $250,000 the threshold amount subjecting certain contracts to such Act and requiring them to specify the minimum wages to be paid to laborers and mechanics. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish as the prevailing wage for a class of laborers or mechanics the entire range of wages being paid to a corresponding class of such workers in the particular urban or rural subdivision of the State in which the work is to be performed. Sets out the means for determining such prevailing wage in cases when more than a single wage is being paid to corresponding classes of workers. Excludes from the computation of wages the basic hourly rates of pay for workers on local Federal projects. Establishes a separate classification for helpers of laborers or mechanics, with their prevailing wages to be determined on the basis of the corresponding class of helpers. Prohibits the division of contracts into units of $250,000 or less for purposes of avoiding wage computation under such Act. Provides for administrative enforcement of such prohibition. Applies the increased contract amount threshold for coverage provided in this Act to other related Federal laws which use the Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage rate determination requirements. Provides that wages found to be due to laborers and mechanics pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act shall be paid to them directly from accrued payments withheld under the contract, in accordance with specified regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor. (Currently the Comptroller General makes such payments.) Directs the Administrator of General Services (rather than the Comptroller General) to distribute a list to all Federal agencies giving the names of persons or firms that the Secretary of Labor (rather than the Comptroller General) has found to have disregarded their obligations to employees and subcontractors. Amends the Copeland Act to require certain contractors or subcontractors to furnish compliance statements concerning weekly wages at the beginning, midpoint, and conclusion of the period covered by the contract, instead of every week as the wages are paid. Requires such statements at least every three months. Directs the Secretary of Labor and the Comptroller General to submit to the Congress annual reports describing the effects of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Copeland Act, and this Act on local wages and on local and national economies.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Soviet Union should be held responsible for any use of chemical warfare by the Afghan regime against the mujahideen and should remove the potential for chemical warfare in Afghanistan; and (2) any such use may be cause for the United States to reduce or terminate diplomatic initiatives and economic cooperation with the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the House that: (1) Japan has not lived up to the terms of the 1986 agreement regarding the Japanese semiconductor market; (2) the administration should convey this message to Japan; (3) the President, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Commerce should seek full access to the Japanese market for semiconductors; and (4) the President and the USTR should take measures to achieve compliance with such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Designates September 8, 1989, as National Pledge of Allegiance Day. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission should include the centennial observance of the Pledge of Allegiance in its commemorative activities.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
National Dividend Act of 1989 - Establishes a program for the distribution of certain corporate tax revenues to the registered voters of each State in the form of dividend payments. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to the chief financial officer of each State, in accordance with a prescribed schedule, an amount equal to the National Dividend Payment, as computed under this Act, multiplied by the number of registered voters in the State. Sets forth criteria and procedures to govern: (1) the chief financial officer's selection of an incorporated bank to act as the State's disbursing agent; and (2) payments to qualified voters. Establishes in the Treasury the National Dividend Payment Trust Fund. Authorizes payment into the Fund of specified amounts from revenue received from: (1) the corporate income tax; (2) the tax on the unrelated business income of certain tax-exempt organizations; (3) the capital gains tax; (4) the tax on insurance company income; and (5) the alternative minimum tax on corporations. Establishes a National Dividend Review Board to review the manner in which payments are made from the Fund and to make investments of Fund amounts. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income, for income tax purposes, all dividend income received by a taxpayer from domestic corporations, including dividends received under this Act. Increases the corporate income tax deduction for dividends received by a corporation on the preferred stock of a public utility. Prohibits corporate income tax rates from exceeding 34 percent. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to declare it out of order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider budget resolutions for fiscal years 1991 and thereafter that would increase the level of total budget outlays beyond those budgeted for FY 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Amends rule IV of the Rules of the House of Representatives to direct the Sergeant-at-Arms to obtain and distribute the customary metal tags provided for under the District of Columbia Traffic Act, 1925 which identify congressional vehicles.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require a drawback (refund) to be paid on the export of articles which are manufactured in the United States with the use of imported articles and are stored in common storage with articles of the same kind and quality, provided that specified requirements are met.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Amends accounting provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to permit licensed used automobile dealers to use the installment method in connection with retail sales of any automobile that is more than three years old at the time of the sale if: (1) the sales price is $6,000 or less; and (2) the installment obligation arises solely from the sale in question and has a term of 36 months or less.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1989 - Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that: (1) terminated the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs as of tax year 1989; and (2) deny benefits in connection with graduate work.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1989
Holloway-Schulze Toddler Tax Credit Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the custodial parent a refundable income tax credit for each dependent child under the age of six (five in 1990 through 1993). Establishes the credit amount as the lesser of $1,000 or 12 percent of income below $10,000 for a single qualified dependent. Limits application of the credit to two eligible dependents. Reduces the credit for taxpayers earning more than $10,000. Makes this credit and the employment-related dependent care credit mutually exclusive. Applies phase-in amounts for tax years beginning in 1990 through 1993. Indexes post-1994 credit amounts. Provides for advance toddler tax credit payments by employers to employees who provide certification of eligibility. Requires taxpayers to file information returns to reflect these payments. Reduces the amount of the employment-related dependent care credit for taxpayers with adjusted gross income above $50,000. Disallows application of the credit with respect to a taxpayer's dependent under age 13 who is physically and mentally capable of self-care. Repeals the income tax exclusion applied in connection with amounts furnished to an employee in accordance with an employer dependent care assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 1992, the duty on parts of speed changers for hydromechanical transmissions for use on aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual taxpayer an income tax deduction for travel, food, lodging, and transportation expenses paid or incurred in connection with the taxpayer's performance of services as a member of the armed forces reserves or the National Guard. Excludes the taxpayer's meal and entertainment expenses from deductibility limitations in this context.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1989
Urges the President to initiate consultations for a trade agreement with countries that are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) establishing a U.S.-ASEAN free trade area. Sets forth the negotiating objectives for such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1989
Urges the President to initiate consultations for a trade agreement with Taiwan establishing a U.S.-Taiwan free trade area. Sets forth the negotiating objectives of such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1989
Urges the President, pursuant to provisions of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 relating to bilateral agreements that eliminate tariff and nontariff trade barriers, to initiate consultations with Korea to determine the feasibility of negotiations for a trade agreement that creates a free trade area between it and the United States. Sets forth the negotiating objectives for such an agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 1994, the duty on certain parts of indirect process electrostatic copying machines.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 1994, the duty on fluorescent yellow FGPN, solvent yellow 44.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to delay until 1990 the effective date of the new nondiscrimination requirements for coverage and benefits under certain statutory employee benefit plans (Internal Revenue Code section 89). Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to such plans to: (1) decrease from 80 percent to 70 percent the coverage requirement under the alternative coverage test; (2) increase from 17 1/2 hours to 35 hours per week the threshold number of work hours triggering requirements with respect to part-time employees; and (3) exempt a number of employee categories from the requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Common Sense Budget Act of 1989 - Amends Federal law to require both the President and the Congress to draft a budget based on estimates of current fiscal year spending, proposing increases or decreases based on this level (rather than on an estimated baseline). Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office to use such a current fiscal year baseline in its report to the congressional budget committees, projecting growth for entitlement and discretionary spending based on current fiscal year spending.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Designates the week beginning September 1, 1989, as World War II Remembrance Week in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of that War.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1989
Title I: Statehood Centennial Coin - Statehood Centennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of one-dollar silver coins and five-dollar palladium coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the statehood of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires the Secretary to provide a specified amount of all surcharges to the Documents West exhibition program with the remaining amount of surcharges to be deposited in the Treasury to be used to reduce the national debt. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for the one-dollar coins only from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act. Requires the Secretary to obtain palladium for the five-dollar coins by purchase of palladium mined and refined in the United States. Grants the Comptroller General the right to examine records and other data of the Idaho Centennial Commission. Title II: Silver Proof Sets - Silver Coin Proof Set Act - Authorizes the Secretary to mint and issue silver coin proof sets. Sets forth certain specified features of such coins and provides for their sale to the public. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for such coins by purchase from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act and from Treasury stocks on hand.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1989
Anti-Terrorism Sanctions Act of 1989 - Requires the President to revoke the most-favored-nation trade status of certain foreign countries that repeatedly support international terrorism. Prohibits duty-free treatment for the products of such countries under the Trade Act of 1974 or the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act. Prohibits the Secretary of Commerce from consulting with the governments of such countries regarding international travel and tourism. Allows the President to waive any sanction under this Act with respect to any foreign country if such waiver would be in the best interests of the United States. Requires the President to give 30 days' notice to the Congress concerning any waiver.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Urges the British Government to ensure direct elections in 1991 and 1994 to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Calls upon the President to communicate to the People's Republic of China and the British Government the importance the United States attaches to the democratic and human rights of Hong Kong's citizens and the retention of Hong Kong's capitalist system.