United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
Small Business Motor Fuel Marketer Preservation Act of 1981 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make loans to small businesses acquiring gas stations from a refiner. Makes it unlawful for a refiner, other than an independent or small refiner, to operate a gas station in the United States. Requires a refiner, in disposing of any interest in a station, to offer a right of first refusal to the dealer. Sets forth requirements governing such an offer, including use of an independent appraisal meeting standards set by the SBA. Makes it unlawful for any refiner to exceed specified limitations on annual motor fuel sales. Makes it unlawful for any supplier to sell motor fuel at any time at any point of transfer at different prices. Stipulates that withholding of available fuel from a purchaser for resale at a lower price to a supplier-operated station shall constitute a violation. Permits price differentials which reflect manufacturing, sale, or delivery costs, or which are offered in good faith to meet competitive price reductions. Stipulates that a refiner may charge purchasers of motor fuel a uniform surcharge for use of a trademark or other identifying symbol. Makes it unlawful for any person to interfere in any way with the purchasing, selling, or storing of motor fuel by a dealer. Permits contracts requiring a dealer to purchase motor fuel exclusively from a particular dealer or supplier, if such contract assures the dealer the right to purchase fuel elsewhere if the refiner does not have such fuel readily available. Makes it unlawful for any dealer at a station displaying a trademark or identifying symbol of a particular refiner to sell motor fuel not refined by such refiner without providing notice to purchasers. Requires each refiner within 90 days of enactment and annually thereafter to provide to the Federal Trade Commission information regarding the number of: (1) gallons of motor fuel sold at its U.S. stations during the preceding year; (2) gallons of motor fuel manufactured in the United States during the preceding year; and (3) barrels of crude oil produced and refined during the preceding year. Sets forth fines for violations of this Act. Permits civil actions to be brought by the FTC or private parties against violators. Directs the FTC and the Small Business Administration to prescribe regulations required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
State and Local Government Cost Estimate Act of 1981 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office, for every significant bill or resolution reported in the House or Senate, to prepare and submit (along with its regular estimate of the Federal cost involved) an estimate of the costs which would be incurred by State and local governments in carrying out or complying with such bill or resolution. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for whoever, with intent to interfere with any person freely exercising his religion, damages or destroys any cemetery, religious building, or any religious article contained in such building or steals any such religious article.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada should meet to discuss North American economic development, trading relationships, specific problems, and cooperation and reciprocal negotiations in the joint development of solutions to these problems.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
National Tourism Policy Act - Title I: National Tourism Policy - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to establish a cooperative effort between the Federal Government, State and local governments, and other concerned public and private organizations to implement a national tourism policy. Title II: United States Travel and Tourism Administration - Establishes as an independent agency the United States Travel and Tourism Administration. Authorizes the Administration to assist Congress and the Federal agencies having policy and programmatic responsibilities affecting tourism. Directs the Administrator, by April 15, 1982, to submit a detailed tourism development plan to specified Congressional committees. Requires each Federal agency upon the request of the Administrator to: (1) make its services, personnel, and facilities available to assist the Administration; and (2) furnish the Administration necessary information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics. Prohibits the Administration from providing transportation or accommodations in competition with businesses engaged in providing such transportation or accommodations. Directs the Administration to submit budget information, legislative recommendations, prepared testimony for Congressional hearings, and reports to the President or to the Office of Management and Budget and, concurrently, to Congress. Directs the Administration to submit an annual report to the President for transmittal to Congress. Authorizes the Administrator to provide financial assistance to regions of not less than two States or portions of two States for the implementation of regional tourism promotional and marketing programs which shall serve as demonstration projects. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1982. Establishes the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to complete the transfer of the assets, rights, privileges, powers, duties, and liabilities of the United States Travel Service to the Administration by October 1, 1981. Abolishes the United States Travel Service upon completion of such transfer. Title III: Amendments to the International Travel Act - Amends the International Travel Act of 1961 to extend until September 30, 1981, the time limit for the reduction in the number of employees of the United States Travel Service. Prohibits the Secretary of Commerce from reducing: (1) the number of United States Travel Service employees in offices in foreign countries to a level below that authorized for fiscal year 1979; and (2) the amount of funds appropriated pursuant to this Act for financing the activities of such foreign offices to a level below that authorized for fiscal year 1979.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to increase the amount of outside earnings permitted each year without any deduction from OASDI benefits by an amount equal to the total of all State and local real property taxes which an individual pays during a taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1981
Savings and Retirement Income Incentive Act of 1981 - Amends the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980 to make permanent the income tax exclusion for dividend and interest income. Increases such tax exclusion for persons over age 65 to $500 ($1,000 for joint returns). Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase to $2,000 the amount of the income tax deduction for contributions to individual retirement accounts. Eliminates the prohibition against certain pension plan participants (e.g. government and military personnel) from making deductible contributions to individual retirement accounts. Increases the amount of nondeductible contributions which an individual may make to an individual retirement account in a taxable year and over such individual's lifetime. Permits contributors to an individual retirement account to withdraw from such an account up to $10,000, without tax penalty, in order to purchase a first home or finance the higher education of a dependent child. Allows an income tax deduction for voluntary employee contributions to tax-qualified employer pension and annuity plans.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow income tax deductions related to the rental of a residence to a family member of the taxpayer if such family member pays a fair rental and uses such residence as the principal place of residence.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Capital Cost Recovery Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes capital cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) buildings and their structural components, ten years; (2) tangible property, five years; and (3) automobiles, taxis, and light-duty trucks (up to $100,000), three years. Permits calculation of the investment tax credit for such property without regard to the useful life of the property. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Permits a taxpayer to deduct less than the full allowance for capital cost recovery in any taxable year. Permits a carryover to succeeding taxable years of any unused depreciation amounts. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Treats amounts claimed as the capital cost recovery of noncorporate lessors as an item of tax preference for purposes of the minimum tax. Adopts as an accounting practice the "half year convention" under which investments eligible for capital cost recovery treatment or the investment tax credit which are made at any time during the taxable year are deemed to be made in the middle of such year.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Armed Forces Education Assistance Act of 1981 - Establishes an Armed Forces Educational Assistance Program for persons who enter military service after September 30, 1981, and serve on active duty for three years or more. Sets forth a schedule of educational assistance entitlement for such veterans as follows: (1) for service of 36 consecutive months but less than 48 consecutive months and an agreement to serve three years in the Ready Reserve, 18 months of assistance; (2) for service of 48 consecutive months but less than 72 consecutive months and an agreement to serve four years in the Ready Reserve, 36 months of assistance; and (3) for service of 72 consecutive months, 36 months of assistance. Allows an eligible veteran who has served on active duty for 16 years by September 30, 1987, to transfer his or her educational entitlement to spouse or children in such manner as prescribed by the Administrator concerned and under limitations set forth in this Act. Makes such veterans eligible for educational assistance for the six-year period following their discharge or release date. Sets forth procedures extending any applicable time period for such veterans who are prevented from initiating or completing a program of education under certain circumstances. Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay tuition costs and a subsistence allowance to eligible veterans in the program. Terminates the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance program after September 30, 1983. Requires the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to submit a joint report to the Congress, not later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act, on plans for implementing the educational assistance provided in such Act. Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to the Congress semiannually on the effect of such program on the number and quality of individuals entering the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Modifies the termination date for veterans eligible for educational assistance to December 31, 1989, or five years after discharge or release from active duty, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Authorizes the President to present on behalf of the Congress specially struck gold medals to fifty-three individuals held hostage in the United States Embassy in Iran. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) strike fifty-three gold medals with suitable emblems, devices and inscriptions; and (2) coin and sell bronze duplicates of such medals. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Defines "person" to include the unborn for the purpose of the right to life guarantee. Makes such amendment inapplicable to laws permitting medical procedures required to prevent the death of the mother.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Establishes an Ad Hoc Committee on Water Resources to report to the House on any bill, resolution, or communication from the executive branch, relating to any matter affecting water resources.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow preference visas to be given to an alien who: (1) requests such treatment; (2) was born after 1950 in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, or Thailand; (3) was fathered by an American serviceman; and (4) provides a guarantee of financial support. Stipulates that such guarantee must: (1) be signed by a citizen or lawful permanent resident who is at least 21 years old; and (2) provide that such signing sponsor will provide necessary financial support for five years. Allows the Attorney General to enforce such guarantee against the sponsor in a civil suit unless such sponsor dies or is adjudicated bankrupt.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
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 an individual may earn while receiving benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the five-month period which is presently a prerequisite of eligibility for disability insurance benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the standard mileage rate used in computing the charitable deduction for expenses incurred in the operation of a motor vehicle shall be the same as the standard mileage rate for the business related deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Regulatory Procedure Act of 1981 - Title I: The Analysis, Management, and Organization of Agency Functions - Requires the head of each Federal agency to publish for each proposed major rule a preliminary regulatory analysis which describes: (1) the need for the rule; (2) the reasonable alternative approaches; (3) regional differences; (4) the projected benefits, adverse economic effects, and effectiveness of the proposed rule and alternatives; and (5) the advantages and disadvantages of adopting performance standards rather than design standards. Requires that each agency publish for each final major rule a final regulatory analysis which includes: (1) an explanation of the selection of the rule considering its adverse economic effects; (2) a summary of the significant issues raised by public comments; and (3) the total costs to the agency of the preliminary and final regulatory analysis. Directs each agency to: (1) include in the notice of each proposed and final major rule, instructions of how the public may obtain copies of such analyses; and (2) send a copy of such analyses to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Authorizes an agency to delay completing such analyses by publishing a finding that the rule is being adopted in response to an emergency that makes completion of such analyses impossible. Terminates any such emergency rule if such analyses are not completed within 180 days of the publication of the rule. Bars judicial review of such regulatory analyses. Requires the Director of OMB and the Comptroller General to report to Congress on agency compliance with the requirements of this title. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, a regulatory agenda containing a list of major and other rules for the next year and certain specified information concerning such rules. Directs each agency to submit its proposed major rules to the President for incorporation into a semiannual Calendar of Federal Regulations. Requires the Director of OMB to review and publish a list of rules submitted which potentially duplicate or conflict with other proposed or existing rules. Directs each agency: (1) include in the notice of a rulemaking or adjudicatory proceeding the date by which the agency intends to complete such proceeding; and (2) to prepare and publish in the first regulatory agenda of the year a report on such proceedings which includes the number of proceedings the agency failed to complete by the established deadline and the reasons for such failure. Requires that such report also disclose specified information concerning the use of funds by the agency for procuring services for the preparation of any report in connection with such a proceeding. Requires each agency, within 6 months of the effective date of this Act, to: (1) establish an office, within such agency, to be responsible for regulatory planning and management; (2) issue guidelines for determining which rules are significant rules; and (3) issue guidelines to insure that an adopted major or significant rule meets certain criteria including requirements that: (a) the rule is written to be easily understood; (b) there has been full consideration with affected State and local governments; and (c) the public has been given a full opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process. Requires that each agency submit to OMB and publish in the Federal Register a draft schedule for the review, over a ten-year period, of its major rules and practices. Sets forth guidelines for such review. Directs each agency to publish a final review schedule within one year. Requires that each agency announce the review date for each major rule upon its publication. Requires each agency to publish an assessment of each precept reviewed. Declares that such review requirements shall not apply to any rule or practice involving the internal revenue laws of the United States. Title II: Reorganizing and Improving Agency Proceedings - Requires that the general notice of a proposed rule include: (1) a statement that the agency seeks proposals from the public of alternative methods; and (2) a statement of where the file of the rulemaking proceeding may be inspected or how file copies may be obtained. Subjects rules concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts to notice and comment rulemaking procedures. Directs each agency to maintain a file of each rulemaking proceeding. Requires each agency to transmit semiannually to the appropriate Congressional committees an agenda listing all areas in which the agency intends to propose major rules during the following year. Directs each agency to transmit a copy of each final rule to each House of Congress and to such committees on the day the rule is published. Prohibits the rule from becoming effective: (1) until 30 days after it is received by such committees; (2) until the earlier of the expiration of 60 days after the date on which a committee reports a resolution disapproving the rule or the date on which such resolution is rejected; or (3) if such a resolution is enacted. Exempts from such time constraints any major rule promulgated in response to an emergency situation. Prohibits an agency from promulgating a new rule substantially the same as a disapproved rule. Requires agencies to respond in an appropriate manner to good faith requests from interested persons for interpretations of agency rules. Creates a new procedure for administrative proceedings required by statute. Establishes an "expedited procedure" which applies to any proceeding predominantly concerning policy issues of a general character, including rulemaking and initial licensing. Requires "trial-type procedures" for proceedings which predominantly concern specific factual questions, including proceedings to assess a civil penalty or fine or to determine a claim for certain individual benefits. Directs the agency to conduct a hearing in such a proceeding to afford parties an opportunity to submit written data, arguments, and responses, and, at the request of any party, an opportunity for oral argument. Requires the presiding employee to designate a disputed question for formal cross-examination upon determining, at the conclusion of the hearing, that there is a substantial dispute of fact which can be resolved sufficiently only by formal cross-examination and upon which the decision of the agency is likely to depend. Sets forth procedures for issuing subpoenas in formal proceedings under the expedited or trial-type procedures. Enumerates the powers and responsibilities of a presiding employee at proceedings under trial-type procedure. Allows an agency to designate an appropriate employee to recommend a decision for a proceeding under expedited procedure when the presiding employee submits the record of the proceeding without a recommended decision. Authorizes each agency to establish employee boards to review the decisions of presiding employees. Directs each agency to specify conditions under which it will accept an appeal of a decision of a presiding employee or such a board, and the conditions under which it will exclude a decision from the jurisdiction of a review board. Requires an action to be brought in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the review of an agency rule for which there is no applicable special statutory review procedure. Prohibits a court reviewing an agency action involving a rule from making any presumption in favor of or against the agency action. Requires such court to determine the agency's jurisdiction on the basis of the language of the authorizing statute or other evidence of legislative intent.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to phase out by 1986 the limitation on outside income for beneficiaries age 65 or older.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income a corporate stock distribution to a stockholder based upon the reinvestment of stock dividends in the corporation by such stockholder pursuant to his election to participate in a qualified dividend reinvestment plan, as defined in this Act. Limits the amount of such exclusion to $1,500 per year. Establishes a rebuttable presumption that a distribution made by a corporation which purchases its common stock within one year of such distribution shall not be deemed a distribution pursuant to a qualified dividend reinvestment plan.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the manufacture, importation, installation, offer to sell, rent, or lease, or other distribution of telephone receivers or similar equipment manufactured after the date of enactment of this Act for use in connection with any interstate or foreign communication, unless such receiver or equipment is designed and manufactured to permit telephone reception by means of hearing aids with inductive receptors. Establishes fines for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Limitation on Government Recordkeeping Requirements and Actions Act of 1981 - Prohibits any Federal agency from: (1) requiring any person to maintain, prepare, or produce records (other than records relating to a dangerous material) of an event more than four years after the event has occurred; and (2) commencing an action against a person for a violation of a regulation more than four years after such violation has occurred, except as otherwise provided by the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit taxpayers who do not itemize income tax deductions to claim a deduction from gross income for charitable contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the categories of deportable aliens foreign students who knowingly participated in a political demonstration resulting in, or intending to result in, injury or damage to another's person or property. Permits the Attorney General to suspend deportation of such students.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to extend, from five to ten years, the period during which a spouse or mother becoming eligible for a Government pension may qualify for an exemption from provisions of the Social Security Amendments of 1977 requiring a reduction in such spouse's or mother's OASDI benefits based on receipt of a Government pension.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Tuition Tax Credit Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer an income tax credit for 25 percent of the tuition paid for the elementary, secondary, college, or post-secondary vocational education of the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse or dependents. Sets forth maximum dollar amounts allowable as a credit for calendar years 1981 through 1983, after which the credit expires. Requires the individual for whom the tuition tax credit is allowed by this Act to be a full-time student during any four months of the calendar year or a part-time student during any eight months of the calendar year. Excludes graduate students from eligibility for such credit. Excludes from the definition of "tuition" any amounts paid for books, supplies, equipment for coursework, meals, lodging, transportation, similar personal expenses, and education below the first-grade level. Forbids any construction of this Act as granting the Government additional authority to examine the books or activities of any church school except to the extent necessary to determine whether such school is an eligible educational institution within the meaning of this Act. Provides for the immediate certification of any judicial action brought in a United States district court concerning the constitutionality of this Act to the appropriate circuit court of appeals. Authorizes direct appeal to the Supreme Court of any such decision by a circuit court. Requires the expedited consideration of such a case at both judicial levels. Requires that any amount received by the taxpayer as a tuition tax credit be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility of the taxpayer for Federal, State, or local educational assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Sunset Review Act of 1981 - Requires the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to jointly develop and maintain an inventory of all Federal programs and tax expenditures. Requires such inventory to classify all such programs and expenditures according to the jurisdiction of the various legislative committees of the two Houses. Requires the General Accounting Office (GAO), before the beginning of the 98th Congress, after consultation with the appropriate legislative committees and the Congressional Budget Office, to submit a draft inventory to the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Requires such Committees to notify each legislative committee of the programs and tax expenditures which are classified within its jurisdiction. Allows any legislative committee to propose revisions of such inventory within 30 days after notification. Requires that such inventory be published in a single document. Requires that an update be made of such inventory at the beginning of every Congress. Specifies information to be contained in such an inventory. Directs the GAO to publish a supplement to such inventory which includes certain budget information. Requires each legislative committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate, by a specified date, to report a resolution setting forth an agenda for the sunset review of selected Federal programs within its jurisdiction, or, in the case of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance, of selected tax expenditures. Directs the committees of each House to develop their sunset review agenda in consultation with any other committee which has concurrent jurisdiction over any programs or tax expenditures involved. Requires, where practicable, that related programs and expenditures be reviewed during the same Congress. Requires the report accompanying any agenda reported in the 104th Congress and every fifth Congress thereafter to summarize the programs and expenditures reviewed and not reviewed during the five previous Congresses. Prohibits either the House or the Senate from considering a primary expense resolution for any legislative committee in any Congress until that committee has developed and submitted its sunset review agenda. Requires the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to incorporate such agendas into a consolidated sunset review agenda and to report such consolidated agenda to its House in the form of a concurrent resolution, within seven legislative days after all committee sunset review agendas have been submitted. Requires the consolidated sunset review agenda to be adopted in the House and in the Senate no later than March 30 in the first session of each Congress. Sets forth the procedures for the consideration and adoption of such agenda. Requires each committee of the House or the Senate, not later than May 15 in the second session of each Congress, to report a bill or bills modifying, continuing, or terminating each program or tax expenditure which it has been directed to review under the consolidated sunset review agenda adopted during the first session. Requires such bill to be accompanied by a report. Requires each department, agency, and instrumentality in the executive branch of the Government which is responsible for the administration of a Federal program or tax expenditure selected for sunset review to provide the appropriate Congressional committees with its views, information, and assistance. Directs the Comptroller General to supply specified information on audits. Exempts foreign intelligence or counterintelligence programs designated by the President as requiring protection from unauthorized disclosure. Directs the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate to review such programs pursuant to the spirit of this Act. Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to include the consolidated sunset review agendas and the Congressional inventory of Federal programs as part of the House Committee on Rules' functions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Anti-Inflation Tax Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require annual cost of living adjustments, based on the Consumer Price Index, to individual income tax rates, the personal tax exemption, withholding requirements, and minimum income tax return amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation Act - Title I: Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation - Provides that, in addition to the processing and settlement of claims, the Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability Trust Fund (Fund), established in title II of this Act, is immediately available to pay specified removal costs arising out of an oil pollution incident. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations designating the person or persons who may obligate available money in the Fund for such purposes. Permits claims for damages for economic loss, incurred within a specified time, to be asserted for: (1) removal costs; (2) injury to or destruction of property or natural resources; and (3) loss of profits or impairment of earning capacity due to such injury or destruction. Specifies the potential claimants who have standing to assert claims involving each such type of damage. Imposes joint, several, and strict liability on the owners and operators of each pollution source. Specifies liability limits, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct, for ships and other vessels. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish limits on the liability of classes of facilities used for transporting, producing, processing, storing, or transferring oil. Requires owners or operators of vessels over 300 tons (including foreign vessels) and owners or operators of offshore facilities to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable liability limits. Permits any owner or operator of more than one vessel or offshore facility to establish financial responsibility only to meet the maximum liability of the largest of such vessels or facilities, as the case may be. Provides for the enforcement of such financial responsibility requirements. States, in the case of an owner who is the holder of a leasehold interest or permit for the exploration of oil offshore, that evidence of financial responsibility established for the leasehold shall cover such owner for all facilities located on the leasehold. Provides that where an offshore facility is owned or operated by more than one person, evidence of financial responsibility may be established by any one of the owners or operators or in consolidated form. Requires owners or operators of each tank motor vehicle operated on highways and transporting oil in bulk, with a water capacity of more than 3,500 gallons, to establish and maintain evidence of specified financial responsibility. Limits the total liability of any guarantor, under this title, to the aggregate amount which such guarantor has provided as evidence of financial responsibility (except in cases of bad faith by a guarantor in settling a claim). Specifies procedures whereby the Secretary shall designate and advertise pollution sources. Directs the Secretary to advertise claims to be presented initially to the owner or operator, or to such person's guarantor, in instances in which: (1) the owner and operator of a vessel or facility designated by the Secretary deny such vessel's or facility's involvement; (2) the source of the discharge is a public vessel; or (3) the Secretary is unable to designate the pollution source. Permits claimants either to present a claim to the Fund or to bring an action in an appropriate United States court if liability is denied or the claim is not settled within a specified period. Sets forth procedures for the disposition and appeal of claims submitted to the Fund. Requires both the plaintiff and the defendant in a court action brought against an owner, operator, or guarantor to forward copies of all pleadings to the Fund. Permits the Fund to intervene in such actions. Subrogates any person or Government entity, including the Fund, paying compensation, to all the claimant's claims and rights under this Act. Specifies procedures for and the measure of recovery in actions brought by the fund against owners, operators or guarantors of alleged pollution sources. Grants U.S. district courts exclusive original jurisdiction over all controversies arising under this title, without regard to the citizenship of the parties or the amount in controversy. Declares that the rights and remedies under this Act shall be exclusive with respect to economic loss caused by oil pollution (but does not preclude State imposition of taxes or fees to finance the purchase and prepositioning of oil pollution cleanup and removal equipment). Sets penalties for persons failing to comply with specified provisions in this Act. Authorizes appropriations for this title. Directs the Secretary to submit an annual report to Congress on the administration of this title. Title II: Fund and Tax - Establishes the Fund in the Treasury of the United States. Transfers to the Fund amounts determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be equivalent to: (1) the amounts received in the Treasury under the petroleum excise tax; (2) the amounts recovered or collected on behalf of such Fund under title I of this Act; and (3) any penalties imposed under title I of this Act or under oil and hazardous substances liability provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act insofar as these relate to petroleum oils. Makes amounts in the Fund available only to pay claims for compensable damages recognizable under title I of this Act (including costs incurred by the United States by reason of such claims). Defines "compensable damages" for purposes of the Act. Restricts interest payable out of the Fund. Provides for certain interfund loans, under specified conditions. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to consult with the Secretary of Transportation, in the case of the Fund, and with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in the case of the Hazardous Substance Trust Fund, concerning such interfund loans. Limits payment of claims by the Fund by requiring a minimum balance of at least $30,000,000 in the Fund. States that claims are to be paid in the order in which they were finally determined. Limits U.S. liability for payment of claims under this Act to the amounts in the Funds established under this title. Prohibits the funds from borrowing any money from the general fund of the Treasury, other than a first year authorization of appropriations as a repayable advance. Sets forth administrative provisions for the Fund, including methods of transfer, management, and investment. Coordinates this title with other provisions in this Act. Provides that nothing in this Act other than this title shall authorize: (1) the establishment of any fund; (2) the payment out of any fund created by this title; (3) the levy or collection of any fee; or (4) the imposition of any requirement with respect to the procedure applicable to rules and regulations prescribed under this title. Provides that, to the extent not inconsistent with this title, any reference in title I of this Act to a fund shall be deemed to refer to the Fund. Provides that, if the balance in any fund is to be transferred to the Fund, then any claim arising before October 1, 1981, which would have been payable out of the other fund shall be payable out of the Fund. Provides that if the Secretary of the Treasury determines that there is: (1) a Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAP) Liability Fund surplus, then the amount of such surplus shall be treated as an advance payment of the petroleum excise tax on crude oil first transported through the TAP after the date of such determination; or (2) a TAP fund deficit, then the petroleum excise tax on such crude oil shall be increased by two cents per barrel until the total amount of such increased tax equals such deficit. Bases such TAP fund surplus or deficit on whether the amount transferred to the Fund from the TAP Liability Fund is greater or lesser than the total amount of claims which the Secretary of the Interior certifies as outstanding against the TAP Liability Fund at the time of such transfer. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to provide for environmental excise taxes on petroleum and certain chemicals. Imposes an excise tax (the "petroleum tax"), for fiscal years 1981 through 1986, of 1.3 cents a barrel on: (1) crude oil received at a U.S. refinery, to be paid by the operator; (2) petroleum products entered into the United States for consumption, use, or warehousing, to be paid by the person entering such product; and (3) any domestic crude oil used in or exported from the United States which has not been taxed under (1), to be paid by the person using or exporting such crude oil. Exempts from such tax domestic crude oil used, on the premises where it was produced, for extracting oil or natural gas. Defines 'crude oil', 'petroleum product', and 'United States' for purposes of the Act. Provides that only one such petroleum tax shall be imposed on any petroleum product. Title III: Regulations, Effective Dates, and Savings Provisions - Specifies the effective dates of specified provisions of this Act. Amends specified laws, including the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act, to conform with the provisions of this Act. Requires pro rata rebates to owners of oil when: (1) the amount of actual claims settled is less than the amount of claims certified against the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund (TAP fund) or (2) any TAP fund surplus is not used as an advanced payment to the Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability Fund. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide that the Secretary of the Army shall make any determination with respect to specified provisions applying to certain navigable waters.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 to revise and increase the mandatory penalties for using or carrying a firearm during commission of a Federal felony. Defines such offense as using a firearm to commit a felony over which the district courts have exclusive jurisdiction or carrying a firearm during such a felony involving violence. Deletes the requirement that the firearm be carried "illegally." Increases the additional penalty imposed for such offense from one to ten years' imprisonment to five to ten years' imprisonment for a first offender and from two to 25 years to ten years to life imprisonment for a second or subsequent offender. Extends to first offenders the directions, currently applicable only to second offenders, that the court not suspend any sentence or grant probation and that the additional sentence not run concurrently with any term of imprisonment imposed for the offense itself. Makes a first offender ineligible for parole for five years and a second or subsequent offender ineligible for ten years. Expresses the sense of Congress that the executive prosecute vigorously such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Age Discrimination in Employment Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to remove the existing 70-year upper age limit to which the discrimination prohibitions apply, thus extending coverage to all individuals who are at least 40 years of age. States that no exceptions to the prohibitions are permitted based on the nature of employment of an individual or entitlement to retirement benefits. Repeals mandatory retirement provisions for Federal civil service employees, District of Columbia employees, and Foreign Service employees.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Equal Pay Reform Act of 1981 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to disallow the economic profitability to the employer of goods worked on in a job as a factor to justify wage differentials based on the sex of the employee holding such job.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for cash and other personal property contributions to a parents' and students' savings account (PASS) created or organized exclusively for the purpose of paying the educational expenses of the taxpayer or the taxpayer's child. Limits the amount of such deduction to $1,500 per year, adjusted for inflation. Limits eligibility for such deduction to dependent's of the taxpayer, to individuals who have not attained age 21, full-time students at eligible educational institutions of higher learning or vocational schools, members of the Armed Forces on active duty, volunteers in the Peace Corps, or full-time volunteers with certain other organizations. Excludes distributions from such an account from the gross income of the payee so long as such distributions are used to defray the beneficiary's tuition, fees, books and supplies, and reasonable living expenses. Specifies sanctions for the use of account funds for other than such educational purposes. Requires the beneficiary of a PASS account to maintain certain records and file certain documents with the Secretary of the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Includes as creditable service for purposes of determining the amount of an individual's civil service annuity payment, any military service performed by that individual after December, 1956, regardless of that individual's eligibility for Social Security benefits for such military service.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Individual Investors' Incentive Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers a nonrefundable income tax credit equal to ten percent of the cost of domestic stock purchased by such taxpayer during the taxable year. Limits the dollar amount of such credit to $1,000 ($2,000 for married individuals filing jointly). Limits such credit to one-tenth of the increase of the aggregate adjusted basis of the taxpayer's domestic stock for the taxable year. Disallows such credit if the taxpayer controls the corporation. Requires the recapture of specified amounts of such credit if any stock for which the credit is allowed is disposed of by the taxpayer within one year of purchase. Disqualifies estates, trusts, and nonresident aliens from eligibility for the credit.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Sunset Act of 1981 - Title I: Reauthorization of Government Programs - Sets forth a ten-year schedule for reauthorization of all Federal programs according to budget function and subfunction as set forth in the Budget of the United States Government for fiscal year 1979. Sets forth the procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the consideration of any bill, resolution, or amendment which authorizes new budget authority. States that it is not in order for either House to consider any legislation which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for a period of more than ten years, for an indefinite period, or for any fiscal year beginning after the next reauthorization date applicable to such program. Provides that before the Congress can appropriate funds for any program, after its first reauthorization date, there must be a specific authorization in law to support the appropriation. Requires the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to schedule and conduct a sunset review of programs to be reauthorized. Requires that the report accompanying such reauthorizations contain specified information and be completed during the Congress in which the program is scheduled for reauthorization. Exempts from the requirements of this Act specified programs such as interest on Federal debts, health care services, general retirement and disability payments, as well as litigation activities which have as their objectives the protection and implementation of civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and specified retirement pay and benefits. Allows the reauthorization schedule set forth in this Act to be changed by concurrent resolution of the two House of Congress and sets forth the procedure for such change. Requires all legislation and other matters related to changes in the dates for programs under this Act to be referred to the committee with legislative jurisdiction over any program affected by the proposal and, sequentially, to the Committee on Rules in the House Representatives and to the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate. Requires such committees to report any concurrent resolution or bill referred to it by a committee of legislative jurisdiction within 30 days, with a statement on each of its recommendations. Makes provisions for any proposed change which has been reported by a committee before June 1, 1982. Title II: Program Inventory - Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs. Declares that the purpose of such program inventory is to advise and assist Congress in carrying out reauthorization and reexamination requirements and to link such reauthorization and review process with the budget process. Requires the Comptroller General to submit such program inventory to each House of Congress no later than January 1, 1982. Sets forth the contents of the inventory program, including the type of authorization provided for such programs' new budget authority and the manner in which related program areas may be grouped for evaluation and review. Permits the Congressional committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service to review the program inventory and to suggest revisions. Requires that the program inventory be revised at the end of each session of Congress, and that such revisions be reported to each House. Requires that periodic reports tabulate the progress of Congressional action on bills and resolutions authorizing budget authority for programs in the inventory. Requires the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to submit periodic reports to the Congress on the adequacy of the functional and subfunctional categories for grouping programs of like missions or objectives. Title III: Program Reexamination - Requires each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reexamine selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures for such review, and criteria for selection of program areas for evaluation. Directs each committee to consult with the appropriate committees of either the House of Representatives or the Senate in order to achieve coordination of program reevaluation. Directs each Committee to inform itself of the related activities of or available assistance from the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Office of Technology Assessment, and other appropriate instrumentalities in the executive and judicial branches. Requires each committee to deliver a report on the reexamination to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House at the date specified in the funding resolution first reported by such committee in 1983 and thereafter for the first session of each Congress. Allows two or more committees which have legislative jurisdiction over the same programs or portions of the same programs to examine such programs jointly and submit a joint report. Stipulates that such report: (1) contain the findings, recommendations, and justifications of the program; and (2) include specified information including, but not limited to, an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the program and an identification of any trends, developments, and emerging conditions which are likely to affect the nature and extent of the problems or needs which the program is intended to address. Requires each executive department or agency which is responsible for a program selected for reexamination to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget and to the appropriate committees of the Congress on its findings, recommendations, and justifications of specified aspects of the program. Title IV: Tax Expenditures - Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, after consultation with the Joint Committee on Taxation of the Congress, to prepare an inventory of tax expenditure provisions and to submit a report on such inventory to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House and the Senate Finance Committee. Defines the term "tax expenditure provision" as any provision of Federal law which allows a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction in determining liability for any tax or which provides a special credit against any tax, a preferential rate of tax, or a deferral of tax liability. Specifies the contents of the report, which include an estimate of the revenue loss from each tax provision. Requires the Director to: (1) submit a revised inventory to each House of Congress by December 1, 1982; (2) revise the inventory after the close of each session of Congress and report such revisions to Congress; and (3) periodically report on Congressional action on bills and resolutions which create or affect tax provisions. Directs the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance to prepare a reauthorization schedule for all tax provisions similar to the schedule set out for Federal programs in title I of this Act. Requires Congress to take final action on the reauthorization schedule for tax provisions before the end of the 97th Congress. Provides that each tax expenditure provision shall expire unless it is reauthorized by a law enacted during the Congress in which it is scheduled for review. Sets forth procedures and restrictions for the consideration of bills reauthorizing tax provisions, which are similar to the restrictions and procedures governing bills authorizing new budget authority for Federal programs as described in title I. Requires that the report accompanying a reauthorization bill include specified information. Permits Congress to prescribe technical rules necessary to mitigate adverse effects which might result for taxpayers who rely on a certain tax provision. Title V: Miscellaneous - Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to permit the committees of Congress to obtain from the agencies of the Government estimates or requests for appropriations, or requests for increases in an item of any such estimate or request, and recommendations as to how the revenue needs of the Government should be met. Sets forth administrative procedures and requirements. Directs the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, to submit to the Congress a "Regulatory Duplication and Conflicts Report" for all programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress. Requires that each such report identify duplicative or conflicting rules and regulations promulgated by executive departments, independent agencies, and State and local governments and contain recommendations which address such conflicts or duplications. Directs the chairmen of the House and Senate committees having jurisdiction over a program scheduled for reauthorization during a Congress, to introduce a bill constituting a reauthorization within 15 days of the beginning of the second session of that Congress. Declares that it shall be in order to discharge a committee from consideration of such a bill if the committee fails to report the bill by a specified date. Makes it the duty of the Committees on Governmental Affairs and on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committees on Government Operations and Rules of the House of Representatives to review the operation of the procedures established by this Act and to submit a report every five years beginning December 31, 1988. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes a Commission on More Effective Government to study and recommend ways of promoting economy, efficiency, and improved service within the Executive branch of Government. Directs the Commission to recommend methods to improve the relationship between Federal, State, and local governments. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress ten days after the Ninety-eighth Congress convenes. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such date. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits a Federal court from requiring that a person be assigned to, or excluded from, a school on the basis of race, religion, or national origin.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes in the House of Representatives a Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control to review problems of narcotics abuse, including enforcement, international trafficking, organized crime, and the criminal justice system with respect to narcotics law violations.