United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Disabled Americans Work Incentive Act - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to continue the part A eligibility of physically or mentally impaired individuals who were eligible for such benefits by reason of their entitlement to disability benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Act, but whose title II benefits have been terminated because they engaged in substantial gainful activity. Sets forth enrollment, special enrollment, and coverage periods as well as the contingencies terminating one's enrollment. Conditions such continued part A eligibility upon the payment of a monthly premium. Requires individuals who are entitled to part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) Medicare benefits only by reason of their continued part A eligibility provided by this Act to pay a monthly premium set at four times the amount otherwise required under part B. Prohibits such part A and B premiums from exceeding a specified percentage of the individual's adjusted gross income, unless the premium thereby sinks below 25 percent of the premium determined without income restraints. Prohibits the benefits provided by this Act from supplanting employer group health plan benefits. Amends title II of the Act to provide that when individuals become entitled to OASDI disability benefits by reason of a disability which previously entitled them to such benefits, both periods of entitlement shall count toward the two-year period of OASDI disability benefit entitlement required for Medicare eligibility despite an intervening period of gainful employment.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Urges the President to: (1) void the current embassy agreements with the Soviet Union; and (2) enter into negotiations for a new agreement under which the Soviet Union will move its new embassy to a site in the District of Columbia that is not more than 150 feet above mean sea level.
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 Internal Revenue Code to exclude from self-employment income, for Social Security tax purposes, certain payments under the conservation acreage reserve program. Prohibits an income tax deduction for expenses incurred as a result of participation in such program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Federal Courts Study Act - Establishes the Federal Courts Study Commission on the Future of the Federal Judiciary. Describes the purposes, membership, and powers of the Commission. Directs the Commission to: (1) conduct a study of the jurisdiction of United States courts; (2) recommend revisions to the Constitution and laws of the United States; (3) collect and review studies on the effectiveness of the courts; and (4) develop a long-range plan for the judicial system. Requires the Commission to report to the Congress and the President on such study within two years, and submit a final report not later than ten years after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 90 days after submission of its final report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
World War I Veterans' Service Pension Act - Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly pension of $150 to each veteran of World War I who meets specified service requirements. Requires such veteran, if receiving another pension administered by the Veterans Administration (VA), to elect which pension he will receive. Provides for the payment of a monthly pension of $100 to surviving spouses of World War I veterans who meet certain marriage requirements. Requires such surviving spouses to choose between pensions if they are currently receiving another pension through the VA.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Fairness in Broadcasting Act of 1987 - Expresses the findings of the Congress that the Fairness Doctrine: (1) fairly reflects the statutory obligations of broadcasters; (2) received statutory approval from the Congress in 1959; and (3) reasonably balances first amendment rights. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require broadcast licensees to provide a reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views on issues of public importance. Requires enforcement and application of such requirement to be consistent with the rules and policies of the Federal Communications Commission in effect on January 1, 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Small Business Competitiveness Act of 1987 - Title I: Small Business Tax Simplification - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to state that no employer shall be required to deposit before 15 days after the end of the month any taxes required to be deducted or withheld if the aggregate amount of such taxes during that month is $5,000 or less (currently $3,000). Provides for an inflation adjustment of this threshold amount. Applies the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (and thereby the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act), without regard to the exception for interpretative rules, to all rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to the Internal Revenue Code. Title II: Health Insurance Equity - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 25 percent to 100 percent the amount of health insurance costs permitted as an income tax deduction for self-employed individuals. Title III: Fair Trade - Establishes in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) a Fair Trade Advocates Office (Office) to assist certain industries in: (1) preparing cases under the trade laws; (2) obtaining remedies and benefits under such laws; and (3) pursuing appeals of certain cases undertaken by the USTR. Bases such assistance on the nonreviewable decision by the USTR that the particular industry, by virtue of its size, lack of adequate resources, or vulnerability in the competitive marketplace, is unable to obtain effective advocacy or to pursue its own case. Directs any agency responsible for administering a trade law to provide the Office with technical and other assistance in the interest of obtaining benefits and remedies under such law. Title IV - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the nonrecognition of gain, upon taxpayer election, in certain cases involving the sale or exchange of any of the following, which must have been held continuously by the taxpayer during the five years preceding the sale or exchange: (1) an interest as a proprietor in a proprietorship, or as a partner in a closely held partnership (where the taxpayer holds at least 80 percent of the capital interest); (2) stock in a closely held corporation (where the taxpayer holds at least 80 percent of the value of the stock); or (3) property used by a proprietor in the business of the proprietorship. Permits such nonrecognition of gain only when, within 18 months of the given sale or exchange, the taxpayer either: (1) purchases like interest, stock, or property; or (2) makes a nondeductible contribution to an individual retirement plan.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Food Security Act Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to base 1987 through 1990 wheat and feed grain deficiency payments on the first five months of each marketing year.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1987
Home Health and Hospice Care Waiver Extension Act of 1987 - Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 to continue, until FY 1990, waivers of liability which provide that home health agencies and hospice programs which keep their services for which Medicare coverage (under title XVIII of the Social Security Act) is denied below specified percentages shall not be denied payment for such care. (Currently, the home health agency waiver expires one year after certain regional intermediaries begin to service such agencies and the hospice program waiver expires on November 1, 1988.)
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1987
Home Health Communications Act of 1987 - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct a fiscal intermediary to provide each home health agency it serves a copy of a written notice and communication of a nonwritten notice of any change in Medicare home health policy within seven days of receiving such notice from the Department of Health and Human Services.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1987
Home Health Informed Consumers Act of 1987 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the publication, distribution, and periodic revision of a booklet informing current and potential consumers of home health services regarding Medicare coverage of such services. Requires that such booklet include a description of the: (1) process for the review and appeal of coverage denials; and (2) guidelines applied in determining whether an individual is homebound and whether he or she needs skilled nursing care on an intermittent basis. Requires that such booklet be published and distributed within one year of this Act's enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1987
Home Health Prompt Reconsideration Act of 1987 - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct a fiscal intermediary to act fully on reconsideration of a payment denial for home health services and give the individual and home health agency involved notice of its findings within 90 days after the reconsideration request is filed. Requires intermediaries to pay interest on the claim for the period during which the reconsideration findings are past due, regardless of whether or not the claim is ultimately paid. Makes such interest penalty inapplicable when the home health agency receives periodic interim payments for its services.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the importance of protecting the equity of Farm Credit System borrowers and of ensuring the continued availability of competitive borrower credit.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1987
Greater Opportunities Through Work Act of 1987 - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of the Social Security Act to require AFDC recipients to participate in employment-related activities. Lists AFDC recipients who are exempt from such participation, including: (1) dependent children under age 16; (2) persons who are ill, incapacitated, or age 60 or older; (3) persons needed at home due to the illness or incapacity of another member of the household; (4) women in their last trimester of pregnancy; (5) mothers with newborns; and (6) drug addicts and alcoholics who are undergoing treatment. Authorizes States to require applicants for AFDC benefits to participate in an employment search program. Directs States to assist AFDC recipients locate a position in one or more employment-related activities, including job search activities, work experience programs, vocational education, and the education necessary for one to earn a high school degree or its equivalent. Requires dependent children and relatives under age 19 with whom such children reside who have no high school degree or its equivalent to receive education as full-time students until such degree or its equivalent is obtained. Authorizes States to require or permit a relative with whom the dependent child resides and who is age 19 or older to participate in such educational activities. Provides that if those required to participate in such educational activities fail to participate they must be referred to another employment-related activity. Requires States to furnish, or reimburse an individual for expenses incurred in arranging, child care, transportation, and other supportive services necessary for the individual's participation in employment-related activities. Imposes sanctions on AFDC recipients who, without good cause: (1) fail to participate actively in employment-related activities to which they had been referred; (2) refuse a bona fide offer of employment in which they are able to engage; or (3) terminate or cut back on their existing employment. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations specifying the conditions under which good cause will be found to exist as well as the periods for which sanctions will be applied. Reduces the Federal share of a States's AFDC expenses if such State fails to involve a specified percentage of nonexempt AFDC recipients in employment-related activities in each fiscal year. Repeals part C (Work Incentive Program) of title IV of the Act. Requires Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam to implement, to the maximum extent feasible, a coordinated program of activities designed to help AFDC recipients achieve self-sufficiency through employment. Authorizes appropriations, beginning in FY 1988, for payments to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam for the implementation of such programs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to research and evaluate the effectiveness of the programs established pursuant to this Act in reducing the welfare dependence of AFDC recipients. Authorizes appropriations from FY 1988 through 1991 for such research and evaluation. Requires the Secretary to issue outcome-based performance standards for State AFDC employment programs within six months of completing such research and evaluation.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1987
Satellite Television Fair Marketing Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the encrypting of satellite programming from the Public Broadcasting Service and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. Requires anyone who encrypts satellite delivered programming for private viewing to: (1) make it available for private viewing by home satellite antenna users; (2) establish reasonable character and financial criteria for distributors of satellite delivered programming and not discriminate in prices, terms, or conditions among distributors offering similar distribution services; and (3) conduct such encryption according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - approved standards designed to comply with specified criteria. Requires the FCC-approved standards to provide the public interest benefits of a universal encryption system permitting decryption by cable television subscribers and home satellite users. Authorizes aggrieved persons to commence civil actions to enforce this Act. Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to conduct a study of pricing and distribution terms of satellite television programming to determine whether the programming market is developing competitively. Authorizes the FTC to establish remedies necessary to produce adequate competition. Requires the FCC to begin a rulemaking proceeding on improving access to network signals for rural Americans.
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 · 25 March 1987
Telephone Decency Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit any obscene or indecent telephone communication, in foreign or interstate communication or in the District of Columbia, for commercial purposes to any person. (Current law prohibits such communication to any person without his or her consent or to any person under 18 years of age.)
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Suspends through FY 1989 the military education program for civilian technicians of the Army National Guard. Directs the Secretary of Defense, no later than December 31, 1988, to report to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on the Military Education Program of the Army National Guard concerning the cost-effectiveness and other characteristics of such program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Long-Term Health Care Amendments of 1987 - Title I: Medicare Long-term Care Benefits - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to add a new part C entitled "Long-Term Care Benefit Program." (Redesignates the current part C as part D.) Provides coverage for the home health services and nursing care required by individuals who are eligible for part A (Hospital Insurance) benefits. Sets forth the formula for determining the long-term care deductible for a calendar year. Conditions payment of long-term care providers on: (1) such providers making written requests for payment within three years of furnishing service; and (2) a physician's certification that the beneficiary needs or needed nursing facility care or home health services, and that home health services are or were furnished while the individual is or was under a physician's care. Prohibits physician's who have a significant ownership interest in, or a significant financial or contractual relationship with, a home health agency from performing such a certification of the agency, unless it is a sole community home health agency. Pays providers the lesser of the reasonable cost or the customary charges for part C services. Prohibits part C payments: (1) to Federal providers; and (2) for services for which an individual is entitled to be paid under part A of the Medicare program. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase hospital insurance tax rates and reduce old age, survivors and disability insurance tax rates for taxable years beginning with 1988. Includes nursing care furnished under the supervision of a registered or licensed professional nurse as well as care provided in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility within the scope of nursing facility care. Requires the Board of Directors of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund to provide for a separate accounting of the additional taxes deposited into such fund by reason of this Act and the disbursements from such fund for part C benefits. Makes Medicare the primary payor where part C benefits are also covered under employment-related group health plans. Title II: Incentives for Individuals to Purchase Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals to deduct certain qualified long-term care insurance premiums they have paid on behalf of eligible beneficiaries. Defines a "qualified long-term care insurance policy" as a policy certified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and providing coverage for diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or personal care services provided in a setting other than a hospital acute care unit. Title III: Incentives for Employers to Provide Group Long-Term Care - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a trust forming part of a pension plan shall not be treated as a nonqualified trust merely because such plan covers qualified long-term health care of employees or retired employees.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Residential Lot Interest Expense Conforming Act of 1987 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat a residential lot as a qualified residence for the purpose of the mortgage interest income tax deductions when the taxpayer has purchased such lot for the purpose of building a dwelling unit. Provides for recapture if the lot is used in a trade or business or held for investment.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Acknowledges the magnanimity of the Marshall plan and the efforts of the Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Virginia, to continue the values for which George C. Marshall stood, and asks all Americans to rededicate themselves to the ideals which George C. Marshall represented. Welcomes the publication on June 5, 1987, of the fourth volume of the official biography of George C. Marshall. Designates the month of June 1987 as George C. Marshall Month.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Recognizes the Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the International Association of Fire Fighters National Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1987
Antitrust Damages Clarification Act of 1987 - Provides that no damages, costs, or attorney's fees shall be awarded under an antitrust suit with respect to the establishment or use of any rate, charge, or premium filed by a title insurance company with a State insurance department or authorized, approved, or permitted to become effective pursuant to State insurance laws.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1987
Amends Federal law concerning vessels and seamen to direct the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish and collect user fees for the provision of Coast Guard services. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations by October 1, 1988, for the enforcement of such fee collection. Outlines the services for which the Secretary is authorized to collect such fees, including vessel inspection, vessel documentation, and licensing of personnel. Places a per-fiscal year ceiling on the amount of fees that can be collected. Establishes for each recreational vessel a fee of $20 per year to be collected by the Secretary. Defines "recreational vessel." Outlines administrative provisions concerning the establishment and collection of all fees authorized under this Act, together with penalties for those required to pay such fees who fail to do so. Provides for the deposit of fees collected under this Act to the operating expenses account of the Coast Guard. Authorizes expenditure of the recreational vessel fee funds only for navigational aids and search and rescue operations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1987
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 to require State educational agencies to distribute funds for State and local programs for drug abuse education and prevention programs on the basis of relative enrollments in public and private, nonprofit schools (currently, on the basis of the relative number of children in the school-age population) within an area. Requires local applications for funds for a three-year period to include a description of: (1) the extent and nature of the current drug and alcohol problem in the schools of the applicant; (2) the applicant's drug and alcohol policy; and (3) how the applicant will monitor program effectiveness. Requires applicants to submit a progress report to State educational agencies for the preceding two years in order to receive funds for the third year. Requires that such report show reasonable progress toward accomplishing program objectives or a modified plan to meet such objectives. Requires States to report annually to the Secretary with specified information on programs funded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
President's Pro-Life Bill of 1987 - Prohibits the use of Federal funds for abortions, except when continuing the pregnancy would endanger the mother's life. Prohibits the granting of funds relating to certain population research and voluntary family programs under the Public Health Service Act to organizations providing abortions or abortion referrals, unless the life of the mother would be endangered by continuing the pregnancy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Social Security Notch Act of 1987 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to alter the formula for computing the primary insurance amount of individuals who attain age 65 in or after 1982 and are subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Repeals specified provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 that eliminated income averaging. Provides that the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC) shall be applied and administered as if such provisions had not been enacted. Amends the IRC to permit qualified farmers to use income averaging. Defines "qualified farmer" as a person: (1) actively engaged in the trade or business of farming; (2) whose gross income for the three preceding taxable years is at least 50 percent attributable to farming; (3) whose farming business or trade has been substantially affected in the first preceding taxable year by a natural disaster in the United States or by a major disaster or emergency so designated by the President; and (4) whose farming enterprise has sustained, as a result of such disasters, at least a 30 percent loss of normal per acre or per animal production, based on specified criteria.
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
Establishes the Veterans Administration as an executive department redesignated as the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Makes technical and conforming changes, including the redesignation of the Administrator of Veterans Affairs as the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should express to the Soviet Union the U.S. opposition to the Soviet Union's slave labor policies by all possible means, including refusing to permit imports of products made by such labor. Requests the President to end the delay in enforcing the restriction against importing goods produced by forced labor.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Social Security Reorganization Act of 1987 - Title I: Establishment of the Social Security Administration - Subtitle A: Establishment - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to establish as an independent executive agency a Social Security Administration, headed by a Social Security Board. Provides that it shall be the duty of the Administration to administer the programs established by titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Requires the Board to study and make recommendations as to the most effective methods of providing economic security through social insurance and as to legislation and matters of administrative policy. Establishes in the Administration: (1) a Commissioner of Social Security; (2) a Deputy Commissioner of Social Security; (3) a General Counsel; (4) an Inspector General; and (5) an Office of the Beneficiary Ombudsman, to be headed by a Beneficiary Ombudsman who shall represent the interests of beneficiaries under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income Program within the Administration. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a description of the activities of the Beneficiary Ombudsman. Requires the Board to make annual budgetary recommendations relating to the Administration. Requires that appropriations requests by the Administration for staffing and personnel be based upon a comprehensive workforce plan as established by the Board. Provides for the apportionment of administrative costs. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a section reflecting the use of budget authority provided to the Administration. Requires that authority for automated data processing procurement and facilities construction be provided in the form of contract authority covering the total cost of such acquisitions. Makes amounts needed for the liquidation of contract authority so provided available from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to the extent that such amounts are not needed to meet current obligations for benefit payments. Requires the Board and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to implement demonstration projects relating to personnel matters. Directs the Board and the Administrator of General Services to implement such projects relating to delegations from the Administrator. Specifies the authorities which are to be delegated to the Board from the Administrator and the Director. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees concerning such projects, including an evaluation of the Board's readiness to assume full and permanent authority. Requires the Board to cause a seal of office to be made and judicial notice taken thereof. Provides for the transfer to the Administration of all functions carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the programs and activities to be carried out by the Administration under this Act. Abolishes the position of Commissioner of Social Security in the Department of Health and Human Services. Sets forth effective date and transitional rule provisions. Subtitle B: Conforming Amendments and Rules of Construction - Requires the Secretary and the Board to report to the Congress within 120 days after the beginning of each regular session on their administration under this Act. Requires the Secretary to study and make recommendations on the most effective methods of providing economic security and on the administrative policy for the programs which he or she administers. Directs the Board to appoint, quadrennially, an Advisory Council on the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Program and an Advisory Council on Hospital and Supplementary Medical Insurance to review the relation between the trust funds supporting the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Medicare program and the long-term commitments of those programs. Requires each council to submit a report to the Board for transmittal to the Congress and the Board of Trustees of each Trust Fund. Sets forth the effective dates of this title. Title II: Social Security Court - Establishes, under article I of the Constitution, a Social Security Court (Court) having exclusive jurisdiction over cases arising under titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance), XVI (Supplemental Security Income), XVIII (Medicare), and XI of the Social Security Act. Amends title VII (Administration) of the Act to provide for the President's appointment of 20 judges to the Court. Authorizes review by the Court by means of hearings conducted before filed panels of one or more judges and held in a manner and at locations which the Court's chief judge prescribes as providing claimants with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the Court without great inconvenience. Allows the Court, within certain guidelines, to prescribe its procedural rules and punish, by fine or imprisonment, contempt of its authority. Requires the claimant and Secretary to be given notice and the opportunity to be heard upon a proceeding in the Court. Provides that within 60 days of a field panel's decision such decision shall be the decision of the Court, unless, within that period, a party petitions the Court's chief judge, or the chief judge makes his own motion, for the Court's review of the decision. Requires the publication for public use of precedential decisions. Authorizes any individual who has exhausted administrative remedies and was a party to a final decision rendered after a hearing under title II, XI, XVI, or XVIII of the Act to bring a timely action for review of such decision in the Court. Authorizes the Court to affirm, modify, or reverse the Secretary's decision, but restricts the Court's authority to reconsider factual findings. Subjects the Court's review to regulations of the Secretary or Social Security Board. Gives the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exclusive jurisdiction to review Social Security Court decisions upon a party's appeal, but prohibits such appeal until the Social Security Court has reviewed or denied a petition for review of its decision. Grants the district courts of the United States exclusive jurisdiction to review any final decision rendered after a hearing under titles II, XI, XVI, or XVIII of the Act if the claim arises under the Constitution or challenges the validity of any regulation of the Secretary or Social Security Board, but requires that the parties stipulate that there is no dispute as to material facts. Authorizes any party to the hearing (other than the Secretary or Social Security Board) to bring such claims to the district courts. Gives the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exclusive jurisdiction to review the final decisions of the district courts. Requires, when a district court decision necessitates regulatory change, that the Secretary and Social Security Board either make regulations conform to such decision or appeal such decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Abolishes the Department of Health and Human Services' Appeals Council one year after enactment of this Act. Title III: Disability Benefit Entitlement Review Procedures - Amends the OASDI and SSI programs of the Social Security Act to set forth a separate procedure for review of the Secretary's determination that the disability on which a benefit claim is based does not exist. Requires the Secretary, where such a determination is made, to issue a statement of the reasons for such decision and give interested parties notice of their right to an evidentiary hearing before a hearing officer who is not the individual who made the initial determination. Subjects the hearing officer's decision to court review only after an interested party (which may include the Secretary) makes a timely application for review by an administrative law judge. Permits the administrative law judge to modify or reverse the decision only if it is contrary to law or the case presents a novel question of law, though the judge may order additional evidence to be taken before the hearing officer. Authorizes the Secretary to review disability denials when the individual fails to meet time limits on filing for review, but considers a decision by an administrative law judge to be the Secretary's final decision. Alters the method for determining when a period of disability begins. Requires the payment of interim benefits under the OASDI and SSI programs where the Secretary appeals a decision rendered by a hearing officer or administrative law judge which is favorable to the applicant for or recipient of benefits and 60 days pass without resolution of the appeal.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Small Business Prompt Payment Act Amendments of 1987 - Revises Federal law to deem the head of a Federal agency to have received an invoice on the later of: (1) the date on which the designated office or employee of an agency actually receives it; or (2) the fifth day after the date on which a property is actually delivered, or final performance of a service is actually completed, unless the contract specifies otherwise. Makes Federal prompt payment provisions applicable to the United States Postal Service. Makes the Postmaster General responsible for issuing procurement regulations, solicitation provisions, and contract clauses. Reduces the 15-day grace period for payment of interest penalties to eight days for solicitations (other than meat products and agricultural commodities) issued before October 1, 1990. Eliminates such grace period for procurement solicitations issued on or after October 1, 1990. Requires an agency to pay a double interest penalty if: (1) the agency owes the interest penalty; (2) the interest penalty is not paid to the business concern on or after the date the penalty is due; (3) the agency does not pay the penalty within ten days after such payment is made; and (4) a written demand is made within 40 days after such payment is made. Requires regulations on interest penalties, in the case of construction contracts, to provide for the payment of interest on: (1) progress payments due for more than seven days, or a longer period if the prevailing practice in private construction contracts is to provide such longer period; and (2) amounts retained during the performance of a contract, if such amounts are not paid by the required payment date. Requires regulations on interest penalties to provide for periodic payments in the case of supply or service contracts upon: (1) the submission of an invoice for supplies delivered or services performed; and (2) acceptance of supplies or services by an authorized employee or certification of performance by such an employee. Requires Government construction contractors to include a payment provision in their agreements with their subcontractors which provides for payment in accordance with prevailing industry standards. Requires the contractor to pay a late payment interest penalty to the subcontractor at the rate applicable between the prime contractor and the Government. Specifies the calculation of time for interest penalties on discount payments. Revises agency reporting requirements on interest penalty payments to include: (1) a description of agency payment practices; and (2) an analysis by the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization for each of the various Federal agencies on the impact of such payments on small and disadvantaged businesses. Requires the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to report to the congressional committees on Small Business on current Government compliance with the payment of interest penalties and the impact on small business. Requires the Chief Counsel to monitor the compliance of all agencies and of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget with interest penalty payments. Requires the modification of the Federal acquisition regulation to implement Federal prompt payment provisions.