United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1981
Debt Collection Act of 1981 - Directs every Government department and agency to require the furnishing of social security numbers by individuals who may incur indebtedness to the United States as a result of applications for credit, financial assistance, or payments. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the Secretary of the Treasury to disclose to a Federal agency, upon written request, whether an applicant for a federally issued or guaranteed loan has any outstanding liability for tax or related penalties. Limits such disclosure to the extent that it is necessary to determine whether an applicant has outstanding liability. Eliminates the provision for disclosure of returns and return information to the Privacy Protection Study Commission. Limits disclosure of a taxpayer's mailing address to a consumer reporting agency which is an agent of a Federal agency to the extent that it is necessary to allow preparation of a commercial credit report for use in accordance with the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966. Subjects Federal agencies which receive taxpayer mailing addresses for claim collection purposes to maintenance and reporting requirements which are determined by the Office of Management and Budget to be necessary for protection of such addresses.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1981
Independent Contractor Tax Status Clarification Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to specify standards for determining whether certain individuals qualify as independent contractors for purposes of the tax on employment income. Treats an individual as an independent contractor if such individual: (1) controls the total number of his work hours; (2) does not maintain a principal place of business, or, if he does, such place of business is not provided, or is not provided rent-free, by the person for whom such individual performs services; (3) has substantial investment in his business and earns income based upon sales or output rather than upon number of hours worked; (4) performs services pursuant to a written contract and is provided written notice of his responsibility with respect to income and self-employment taxes; and (5) the recipient of such individual's services files returns disclosing payments made to such individual. Provides that the criteria established by this Act shall not be applicable to agent-drivers, commission-drivers, full-time life insurance salesmen, home workers, and traveling or city salesmen who are statutorily designated as employees for purposes of social security taxation. Provides that the failure of an individual claiming independent contractor status to meet the criteria established by this Act shall not create an inference that such an individual is an employee or that the recipient of his services is an employer. Limits the applicability of the criteria established by this Act to questions of employment status arising under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, self-employment tax provisions, and withholding requirements under the Internal Revenue Code. Requires recipients of services performed by an independent contractor to file an information return with respect to payments made for such services in excess of $600 for the taxable year. Requires individuals who file such information returns to furnish written statements to persons with respect to whom such information is reported which indicate the amount of payment reported. Provides penalties for failure to furnish information returns or statements. Applies deficiency procedures for the assessment of unpaid taxes due to the reclassification of an individual as an employee who had been treated as an independent contractor. Treats as employees, for purposes of the withholding of income tax, certain traveling or city salesmen.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1981
Disapproves the final rule promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission dealing with the matter of the trade regulation rule relating to the sale of used motor vehicles.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1981
Federal Employees' Reemployment and Compensation Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Federal Employees' Compensation Act to change the benefit formula for total disability from 66 2/3 percent of monthly pay to 80 percent of spendable income. Changes the benefit formula for partial disability from 66 2/3 percent of the difference between monthly pay and monthly wage earning capacity to 80 percent of the difference in spendable income computed on that basis. Defines "spendable income" as monthly pay less amounts normally withheld. Increases from $500 to $850 per month the amount of additional compensation for services of a full- time health attendent. Increases from $200 to $350 per month the amount of additional compensation for vocational rehabilitation. Eliminates the 45 day continuation of pay period. Establishes a waiting period of 7 workdays from the onset of disability, with 5 days compensation repaid if the disability lasts beyond 14 days. Allows an employing agency to advance compensation beginning on the third day of disability if the employee is expected to be disabled at least 28 days due to a work related traumatic injury and if the agency does not contest any essential element of the claim. Allows an employee to use annual or sick leave prior to the commencment of such compensation. Allows the Secretary of Labor to begin payment of interim compensation on the 21st day following receipt of all information necessary to adjudicate the claim, unless the Secretary has: (1) reached a determination against payment; (2) notified the claimant of insufficient claim documentation; or (3) received notice that the agency controverts any particular of the claim. Revises the computation of death benefits to a surviving spouse and children. Reduces such death benefits by any amounts received by such survivors as widow's or widower's or surviving child's benefits pursuant to the Social Security Act. Increases the funeral expenses payment from $800 to $1100. Revises the compensation schedule for injury which results in the permanent loss, or permanent loss of use, of a member or function of the body, or involves disfigurement. Provides for reduction of compensation for subsequent injury to the same member or function of the body. Authorizes the Secretary to cease payments to any individual who without good cause fails to apply for or undergo vocational rehabilitation when so directed. Provides that compensation payable on account of disability or death which occurred more than one year before January 1 of each year shall be increased on that date at the average rate of increase in General Schedule pay rates on that date. Modifies the procedure for the hearing and determination of claims. Grants jurisdiction to the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board to hear and issue final decisions on appeals taken from the Secretary's determination. Makes the decision of the Board conclusive and binding upon the Secretary in the absence of new evidence of probative force and value. Authorizes the Secretary to modify an award for or against the payment of compensation at any time on the Secretary's own motion or upon application by a claimant. Provides that such a modification is final and not subject to review by another official or by any court. Provides that the eligibility of any employee for disability compensation shall cease in the case of any such employee who is eligible to receive a retirement annuity under a program of retirement based upon Federal employment. Continues compensation benefits, in the case of an employee not eligible because of inadequate service credit, for such time as is necessary to accumulate adequate service credits for a minimum retirement annuity. Sets forth the requirements for the calculation of creditable service for retirement and retirement contribution deductions for individuals receiving disability benefits. Prohibits reimbursement of medical providers if found by the Secretary that such a provider: (1) has knowingly or willfully made any false statement in an application for reimbursement; (2) submitted bills for reimbursement which are substantially in excess of such provider's customary charges; or (3) has furnished services or supplies that are substantially in excess of the need of the recipient. Prohibits the Secretary from reimbursing any medical provider who: (1) has been convicted for fraudulent activities; or (2) has been excluded from participation in any other program. Allows any provider to whom reimbursement is denied to request a hearing. Requires the Secretary to make a final decision based on the evidence adduced at such hearing. Provides for judicial review of such decision. Requires the Secretary to develop and adopt a schedule of reasonable amounts that will be paid for particular medical services and supplies in specific geographic areas. Requires the Secretary to revise such schedule at appropriate intervals thereafter. Changes the formula for miners' Black Lung Benefits from 50 percent of the total disability payments of a GS-2 to 37.5 percent of the minimum monthly basic pay of a GS-2.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1981
Black Lung Amendments Act of 1981 -- Title I: Amendments to Black Lung Benefits Act - Amends the Black Lung Benefits Act to exclude from eligibility for benefits: (1) all individuals who do not or have not worked in a mine; and (2) survivors of deceased miners who were totally disabled by pneumoconiosis ("black lung disease"), but whose deaths were not due directly to the disease. Increases from ten to 15 years the minimum length of employment in a mine necessary to give rise to a rebuttable presumption of death due to black lung disease. Reduces the number and kind of circumstances which can give rise to such presumptions. Prohibits consideration of cost-of-living adjustments to the Federal pay grade factor in the formula for the determination of benefit payments. Requires reduction of benefit payments by the amount of any State benefit payments due to any disability, black lung or otherwise. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to require claimants to furnish sufficient information for a determination as to whether such reductions are called for. Terminates Federal liability for payment of black lung benefits as of February 28, 1983. Provides for treatment of claims after such time in a manner similar to other claims under State workers' compensation laws. Prohibits the payment of benefits on a retroactive basis for any claim until it is no longer subject to administrative or judicial review. Title II: Protection of Trust Fund - Establishes in the Department of the Treasury the Office of Special Counsel for the Black Lung Disability Benefits Trust Fund. Transfers to the Special Counsel pertinent duties and responsibilities currently belonging to the Secretaries of Labor and of Health and Human Services. Requires the Counsel to participate in any administrative or judicial proceeding which may result in the disbursement of moneys from the Fund. Allows the Counsel to cease participation if it is likely that the Fund's liability will be established. Title III: Coal Tax - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to change the excise tax on coal from: (1) 50 cents per ton to three percent of the first sale price per ton, for coal from underground mines; and (2) 25 cents per ton to one percent of the first sale price per ton, for coal from surface mines. Removes the limit on the maximum amount of tax.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1981
Retirement Income Incentives and Administrative Simplification Act of 1981 - Title I: Employee Benefit Administration - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to direct the President to establish, by the beginning of the second calendar year after enactment of this Act, the Employee Benefit Administration as an independent agency within the executive branch to be headed by a three member Board of Directors. Provides for the appointment as Board members: (1) "special liaison officers to the Administration" whose positions are established within the Offices of the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of the Treasury; and (2) an Executive Director appointed by the President. Vests in the Board all functions relating to the qualification of employee benefit plans under the Internal Revenue Code. Transfers to the Board the responsibilities for administration and enforcement of: (1) the Welfare and Pension Disclosure Act; (2) Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to tax-qualified deferred compensation plans and certain other employee benefit plans; and (3) ERISA. Directs the President to transfer to the Board additional functions of any Federal agency as are deemed necessary to consolidate in the Administration all administrative and related functions regarding employee benefit plans. Directs the Board to promulgate regulations providing for the consolidation of all reports regarding employee benefit plans and governmental plans required under ERISA or the Internal Revenue Code. Sets forth the duties and responsibilities of the Board, the Secretary of the Treasury, and other Federal agencies with respect to the coordination of functions under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. Authorizes appropriations to the Administration for purposes of carrying out its functions. Transfers the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries (redesignated as the "Actuary Enrollment Board") to the Administration. Removes the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation from the Department of Labor and replaces its board of directors with that of the Administration. Title II: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Subtitle A: Amendments to Definitions - Amends ERISA to specify supplemental retirement income arrangements which are to be considered welfare plans rather than pension plans. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to exempt by regulation any severance pay or supplemental income arrangement from provisions applicable to welfare plans and to provide alternative methods of compliance with any such provision. Conforms the definitions of "party in interest" and "governmental plan" with the Internal Revenue Code. Revises the definitions of "normal retirement age" and "relative." Subtitle B: Amendments to Reporting and Disclosure Provisions - Eliminates requirements regarding the filing of a plan description with the Secretary of Labor. Requires, rather than allows, qualified public accountants and actuaries to rely on the correctness of actuarial or accounting matters certified to by an enrolled actuary or with respect to which a qualified public accountant has expressed an opinion, respectively, for purposes of the preparation of annual reports. Allows a pension plan which is held in a trust consisting of the assets of two or more participating plans which are maintained by a single employer (or by two or more employers all of whom are members of the same controlled group) to elect to include in its annual report certain information regarding all of the assets of the trust in lieu of the information currently required to be reported by a plan. Eliminates the requirement that the present value of certain plan liabilities be included in the actuarial statement. Revises requirements regarding simplified annual reports for pension plans with less than 100 participants. Requires the distribution of updated summary plan descriptions every tenth year, rather than every fifth year, after the plan becomes subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements. Modifies the requirement that a plan administrator furnish to a participant or beneficiary a copy of certain financial statements to direct the administrator to post such statements at principal work sites together with a statement of the right of employee participants to receive copies of the latest annual report and summary plan description. Directs the Secretary of Labor to provide for alternative means by which such information may be communicated to participants. Limits to ten dollars the charge for a complete copy of the latest annual report or other instrument under which a plan is established or operated. Specifies information required to be provided by an applicant for an advance determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that a plan is a tax-qualified deferred compensation plan. Revises requirements regarding the disclosure to a participant or beneficiary of benefit rights and account information. Directs administrators to issue reports to certain plan participants who have separated from service stating the nature, amount, and form of the deferred vested benefit to which they are entitled. Requires employers to maintain records regarding each employee sufficient to determine the benefits due to the employee. Prohibits public access to pension report information in computer-compatible form until a statement has been filed with the Secretary of Labor by the recipient of the information which provides assurances that the information will not be used for commercial purposes. Requires, rather than allows, the Secretary to prescribe an alternative method of compliance with reporting requirements under certain circumstances. Specifies circumstances in which the administrator of a multiemployer plan may use an alternative method of information distribution. Subtitle C: Amendments to Participation and Vesting Provisions - Permits the determination of pension plan eligibility on a plan year basis. Modifies provisions regarding the suspension of benefit payments by multiemployer plans, where the employee is employed in the same industry, trade or craft, and geographic area covered by the plan, to permit the term "employed" to include self-employment and work on an irregular basis. Specifies that the notification and election requirement triggered by a change in vesting schedules shall be applicable only to employees who would be adversely affected by the change. Makes 125 days of service in any maritime industry equivalent to 1,000 hours of service for purposes of satisfying benefit accrual requirements. Allows a multiemployer plan to provide that a participant's accrued benefit upon separation is the sum of the different rates of benefit accrual for different periods of participation as defined by one or more fixed calendar dates or by employment in different bargaining units. Specifies that the normal retirement benefit, for purposes of computing the minimum accrued benefit to which a participant is entitled upon separation, shall be a projected normal retirement benefit. Requires a plan offering an optional benefit form, in order not to be treated as having altered a participant's accrued benefit by reason of a change in actuarial assumptions, to set forth such assumptions in a separate document. Requires plans in which a majority of employees are seasonal employees to use 500 hours, rather than 1000 hours, for purposes of defining a year of service. Permits a period of service, in the case of a multiemployer plan, to qualify as a year of participation although a plan makes allowance for delinquent employer contributions. Revises joint and survivor annuity requirements. Allows the assignment of pension plan benefits pursuant to a specific State court decree of divorce, annulment, legal separation, or family support or a court order relating to marital property rights. Prescribes notification requirements with respect to any such assignment. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe methods of measuring service based upon the elapsed time of an employee's service. Subtitle D: Amendments to Funding Provisions - Makes certain revisions with respect to funding, including a requirement that changes in funding method or plan year need be approved only when made more than once in a three-year period and a requirement that a funding method take into account future benefit changes. Subtitle E: Amendments to Fiduciary Responsibility Provisions - Excludes from the assets of a plan any assets of an insurer which funds the plan and which are not held in separate accounts, other than a contract or policy of insurance issued to the plan, solely by reason of such issuance. Revises provisions regarding the designation and responsibilities of fiduciaries. Permits the return to an employer of an overpayment of withdrawal liability: (1) in the case of a multiemployer plan; and (2) in the case of a multiemployer plan maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements where it is determined that a contribution was made by a mistake of fact or law. Relieves co-fiduciaries to whom a specific duty has not been allocated from liability for an act or omission by a named fiduciary to whom the duty has been allocated. Revises the provisions regarding prohibited transactions by a fiduciary. Revises the definition of "qualifying employer real property" for purposes of the limitation on the acquisition and holding of real property by a plan. Modifies the coverage of the exemption from prohibited transactions effected by the Internal Revenue Code provision which taxes such transactions. Exempts from such prohibitions: (1) certain loans made by a defined contribution plan to a party in interest who is a substantial employer maintaining the plan; and (2) certain leases of personal property between such parties. Conforms certain provisions regarding transactions by parties in interest with provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Extends the prohibited transaction exemption procedure to owner-employees. Excludes from the assets of a plan, for purposes of the prohibited transactions provision and the limitation on the acquisition and holding of employer securities and employer real property, assets in a pooled separate account of an insurer or in a collective investment fund of a bank supervised by the United States or a State. Allows an exclusion, for purposes of such limitation, if the insurer or bank provides a written assurance that the separate account or trust may not acquire any employer securities or employer real property issued by or leased to any employer or affiliate where the aggregate value of such property after such acquisition would exceed ten percent of the fair market value of the assets of the separate account or trust. Permits indemnification by a plan against expenses or liability for losses incurred in connection with any administrative or judicial civil action or proceeding, subject to a determination that the fiduciary has acted in good faith. Subtitle F: Amendments to Administration and Enforcement Provisions - Creates a civil cause of action for collection by a fiduciary of a multiemployer plan of delinquent employer contributions, subject to a six-year statute of limitations (three years after the date of actual knowledge of the cause of action). Makes available to the Department of Labor for purposes of administering ERISA any amounts which become available through the public request of information. Revises the composition of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans to require that one of the employer members be a representative of employers maintaining small plans. Directs the Secretary of Labor to publish at least annually reports showing the number of plans and participants; amounts of assets, income, and expenses; and certain other information categorized by plan size and type. Deems as preempted by ERISA certain provisions of State law: (1) regarding benefits provided by an insurance policy issued to an employee benefit plan; and (2) which treat a participant's interest in a plan as a security or similar right. Deems as not preempted by ERISA certain provisions of State law: (1) which require an insurance policy issued to a plan to permit a participant to convert or continue protection after the termination of the insurance coverage under the plan; and (2) which prohibit such an insurance policy from classifying health care services as ineligible for coverage solely because the provider is licensed as a provider of services other than those rendered by a medical doctor. Specifies that a participant's interest in a plan covered by ERISA shall not be considered a security or similar right for purposes of the Acts administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Subtitle G: Clarifying and Technical Amendments - Makes certain technical changes and corrections. Subtitle H: Reports - Directs the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury to conduct jointly detailed studies of means by which: (1) administrative burdens of ERISA reporting requirements may be reduced; and (2) certain businesses and banking institutions may be enabled to develop master and prototype pension plans. Title III: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Subtitle A: Amendments Related to Title III Amendments - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make conforming changes in accordance with the provisions of title III of this Act. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Amendments - Includes in the number of calendar years of active participation in a plan, for purposes of capital gains tax treatment of a portion of a lump sum distribution, active participation in another plan maintained by a predecessor employer or by a member of the same controlled group if the participant's employment was continuous between participation in both such plans. Includes such participation in the minimum period of service required for imposition of the separate tax on lump sum distributions. Revises the rule regarding aggregation of certain trusts and plans for purposes of determining the balance to the credit of an employee which becomes payable to the recipient. Deems a separation from service to have occurred, for purposes of the definition of "lump sum distribution," if an employee has not worked in service covered by the plan for six consecutive months following severance of the employment relationship. Subjects target benefit plans to the limitations on benefits and contributions imposed on defined benefit plans. Permits the rollover into individual retirement accounts or retirement bonds of employee contributions used in calculating rollover amounts for purposes of the taxability of the beneficiary of an employees' trust. Treats such contributions as a source of a rollover amount paid or distributed out of an individual retirement account or annuity or transferred from retirement bonds. Excludes from "acquisition indebtedness," for purposes of computing unrelated business taxable income, certain indebtedness to an insurer incurred by a tax-qualified deferred compensation plan. Provides an actuarial adjustment of the average compensation limit on benefits and contributions imposed on defined benefit plans in the case of a participant whose service continues beyond normal retirement age. Reduces from ten years to five years the period for amortization of past service or other supplementary pension or annuity credits for purposes of determining the amount contributed to pension trusts which is deductible. Specifies conditions under which a plan will be deemed not to have engaged in prohibited discrimination. Permits certain plans to be considered non-discriminatory which meet specified benefit-compensation ratio requirements and: (1) exclude employees whose remuneration consists wholly of "wages" (as defined by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act); or (2) the contributions to or benefits from which based on remuneration not deemed "wages" differ from the contributions or benefits based on wages or differ because of retirement benefits created under State or Federal law. Title IV: Individual Retirement Payroll Deduction Plans for Employees Not Covered by Pension Plans - Amends ERISA to create a new title V, "Individual Retirement Payroll Deduction Plans for Employees Not Covered by Pension Plans," which requires a covered employer to maintain a plan under which eligible employees (those ineligible for coverage under certain pension or retirement plans) may elect to have payroll deductions applied to an individual retirement account or annuity or a retirement bond. Defines "covered employer" as a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who: (1) had at least 20 employees for each working day in each of at least 20 calendar weeks during the year; and (2) has been engaged in such industry throughout the preceding five-year period. Exempts from such requirement: (1) any covered employer with fewer than ten eligible employees at the close of the preceding calendar year; and (2) any employer who has conducted a referendum of eligible employees the results of which indicate that the number desiring a payroll deduction plan is less than the greater of ten percent of the number of such employees or ten. Imposes civil penalties for failure to maintain such a plan or deduct wages in accordance with an election. Title V: Amendments Relating to Single-Employer Plans - Subtitle A: Amendments to Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA, with respect to plan termination insurance, to exempt from premium payment requirements any single-employer plan with fewer than 35 participants. Directs the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (Corporation) to: (1) conduct studies, at least once every five years, to determine the premiums needed to maintain basic-benefit guarantee levels for multiemployer and single-employer plans and whether such levels may be increased without increasing the basic-benefit premium for the plans; (2) report such findings to the House Ways and Means and Education and Labor Committees and the Senate Finance and Labor and Human Resources Committees; and (3) transmit to such committees, if a premium increase is necessary or if basic-benefit guarantees may be increased, appropriate revised schedules. Excludes from guaranteed benefits any benefits provided by a plan which become effective or any increase in benefits effected by a plan amendment occurring after the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings by or against the contributing sponsor or other actions are taken for the benefit of such sponsor's creditors. Defines "contributing sponsor" as a trade or business with employees who are retaining or earning credited service under a plan and which is contributing to the plan. Revises procedures for termination of single-employer plans. Provides for the appointment of a trustee of such a plan upon the occurrence of an insurable event. Defines "insurable event" to mean that: (1) there is a liquidation of every contributing sponsor of the plan; (2) the Corporation determines that because of any partial liquidation, it becomes necessary to protect its own interests; or (3) a U.S. district court has determined, upon application of the Corporation, that the appointment of a trustee is necessitated by the financial condition of the plan. Sets forth conditions for the appointment of, and rights and powers of, a trustee of a plan. Confers on U.S. district courts jurisdiction to stay certain proceedings with respect to the property of a plan. Revises the requirements regarding reportable events. Limits the payment of benefits attributable to employer contributions, in the event that bankruptcy proceedings by or against the contributing sponsor are initiated or other actions are taken for the benefit of such sponsor's creditors, to payment in the form of an annuity. Specifies exceptions to such limitation. Prohibits plan assets, in such event, from being used to purchase annuities other than those subject to allocation. Requires notification to the Corporation by any person who knows or has reason to know of the occurrence or initiation of bankruptcy proceedings, other actions taken for the benefit of the contributing sponsor's creditors, or specified other steps taken to satisfy past due creditors' obligations. Revises provisions regarding liabilities to the Corporation and withdrawal liability to multiple-employer plans. Defines "multiple-employer plan" as a single-employer plan maintained by at least two trades or businesses which are not under common control. Sets forth rules for determining liability of prior contributing sponsors and trades or businesses which are members of a control group of which a prior contributing sponsor was a member. Revises plan termination insurance requirements with respect to the filing of annual reports. Treats as a trade or business, for purposes of the rules regarding liabilities of contributing sponsors and employers, any trade or business which ceases to exist by reason of certain corporate reoganizations. Makes jointly and severally liable, for purposes of such rules, any trade or business which transferred its assets and any person to whom such assets are transferred, where a purpose of the transfer was evasion of liability. Modifies the procedure for the enforcement of claims of liability to the Corporation. Treats unpaid distribution contributions to a single-employer plan accruing before the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings with respect to a contributing sponsor as arising from service rendered and contributions accruing during such proceedings as administrative expenses if an insurable event occurs in the course of the proceedings. Specifies that if no insurable event occurs in the course of such proceedings, the contributing sponsor's obligation for payment of contributions shall be the same as that imposed under an assumed executory contract. Treats as ineffective, upon the occurrence of an insurable event with respect to a single-employer plan, a waiver of minimum funding requirements. Subtitle B: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the definition of "accumulated funding deficiency," for purposes of determining whether a plan meets the minimum funding standard, as applied to insolvent plans (other than multiemployer plans). Adds a charge to the funding standard account. Sets forth special rules for the charging and crediting of a funding standard account for any plan year ending after the termination of a single-employer plan for specified reasons. Permits a plan sponsor, for any plan year of a plan other than a multiemployer plan, to determine the ability of the plan to pay benefits when due for the next three plan years if plan assets are less than three times the benefit payments. Deems such plans as insolvent if it is reasonably likely that the plan's available resources will be insufficient to pay benefits when due in any of the next three plan years. Requires such insolvent plans to make contributions equal to the amount necessary for the plan year to pay benefits when due. Treats as deductible contributions of an employer to a plan any amount paid by an employer to a terminated single-employer plan. Revises the definition of "employer," for purposes of such deduction, minimum funding standards, and the excise tax imposed for failure to meet such standards, to include a person other than the contributing sponsor who agrees to make contributions to a plan which preclude the occurrence of an insurable event. Subtitle C: Amendments to Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA to require the filing of terminal reports by terminated pension plans. Makes conforming changes in accordance with the amendments in Subtitle B of this title.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1981
Retirement Income Incentives and Administrative Simplification Act of 1981 - Title I: Employee Benefit Administration - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to direct the President to establish, by the beginning of the second calendar year after enactment of this Act, the Employee Benefit Administration as an independent agency within the executive branch to be headed by a three member Board of Directors. Provides for the appointment as Board members: (1) "special liaison officers to the Administration" whose positions are established within the Offices of the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of the Treasury; and (2) an Executive Director appointed by the President. Vests in the Board all functions relating to the qualification of employee benefit plans under the Internal Revenue Code. Transfers to the Board the responsibilities for administration and enforcement of: (1) the Welfare and Pension Disclosure Act; (2) Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to tax-qualified deferred compensation plans and certain other employee benefit plans; and (3) ERISA. Directs the President to transfer to the Board additional functions of any Federal agency as are deemed necessary to consolidate in the Administration all administrative and related functions regarding employee benefit plans. Directs the Board to promulgate regulations providing for the consolidation of all reports regarding employee benefit plans and governmental plans required under ERISA or the Internal Revenue Code. Sets forth the duties and responsibilities of the Board, the Secretary of the Treasury, and other Federal agencies with respect to the coordination of functions under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. Authorizes appropriations to the Administration for purposes of carrying out its functions. Transfers the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries (redesignated as the "Actuary Enrollment Board") to the Administration. Removes the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation from the Department of Labor and replaces its board of directors with that of the Administration. Title II: Deduction by Certain Employees and Their Spouses for Contributions to Retirement Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employees who are participants in tax- qualified employer retirement plans an income tax deduction for contributions to such plans or to individual retirement plans. Limits the amount of such deduction to the amount by which the employee's compensation for the taxable year or $2,000, whichever is less, exceeds the sum of amounts contributed by the employer for an annuity contract and any amount of employment tax which would be paid if the employee were subject to the employment tax. Increases from 70 1/2 years to 75 years: (1) the age by which an individual for whom an individual retirement account is created must receive the distributions from the account; and (2) the age of limitation for purposes of the bearing of interest on or the redemption of retirement bonds. Title III: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Subtitle A: Amendments to Definitions - Amends ERISA to specify supplemental retirement income arrangements which are to be considered welfare plans rather than pension plans. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to exempt by regulation any severance pay or supplemental income arrangement from provisions applicable to welfare plans and to provide alternative methods of compliance with any such provision. Conforms the definitions of "party in interest" and "governmental plan" with the Internal Revenue Code. Revises the definitions of "normal retirement age" and "relative." Subtitle B: Amendments to Reporting and Disclosure Provisions - Eliminates requirements regarding the filing of a plan description with the Secretary of Labor. Requires, rather than allows, qualified public accountants and actuaries to rely on the correctness of actuarial or accounting matters certified to by an enrolled actuary or with respect to which a qualified public accountant has expressed an opinion, respectively, for purposes of the preparation of annual reports. Allows a pension plan which is held in a trust consisting of the assets of two or more participating plans which are maintained by a single employer (or by two or more employers all of whom are members of the same controlled group) to elect to include in its annual report certain information regarding all of the assets of the trust in lieu of the information currently required to be reported by a plan. Eliminates the requirement that the present value of certain plan liabilities be included in the actuarial statement. Revises requirements regarding simplified annual reports for pension plans with less than 100 participants. Requires the distribution of updated summary plan descriptions every tenth year, rather than every fifth year, after the plan becomes subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements. Modifies the requirement that a plan administrator furnish to a participant or benficiary a copy of certain financial statements to direct the administrator to post such statement at principal work sites together with a statement of the right of employee participants to receive copies of the latest annual report and summary plan description. Directs the Secretary of Labor to provide for alternative means by which such information may be communicated to participants. Limits to ten dollars the charge for a complete copy of the latest annual report or other instrument under which a plan is established or operated. Specifies information required to be provided by an applicant for an advance determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that a plan is a tax-qualified deferred compensation plan. Revises requirements regarding the disclosure to a participant or beneficiary of benefit rights and account information. Directs administrators to issue reports to certain plan participants who have separated from service stating the nature, amount, and form of the deferred vested benefit to which they are entitled. Requires employers to maintain records regarding each employee sufficient to determine the benefits due to the employee. Prohibits public access to pension report information in computer-compatible form until a statement has been filed with the Secretary of Labor by the recipient of the information which provides assurances that the information will not be used for commercial purposes. Requires, rather than allows, the Secretary to prescribe an alternative method of compliance with reporting requirements under certain circumstances. Specifies circumstances in which the administrator of a multiemployer plan may use an alternative method of information distribution. Subtitle C: Amendments to Participation and Vesting Provisions - Permits the determination of pension plan eligibility on a plan year basis. Modifies provisions regarding the suspension of benefit payments by multiemployer plans, where the employee is employed in the same industry, trade or craft, and geographic area covered by the plan, to permit the term "employed" to include self-employment and work on an irregular basis. Specifies that the notification and election requirement triggered by a change in vesting schedules shall be applicable only to employees who would be adversely affected by the change. Makes 125 days of service in any maritime industry equivalent to 1,000 hours of service for purposes of satisfying benefit accrual requirements. Allows a multiemployer plan to provide that a participant's accrued benefit upon separation is the sum of the different rates of benefit accrual for different periods of participation as defined by one or more fixed calendar dates or by employment in different bargaining units. Specifies that the normal retirement benefit, for purposes of computing the minimum accrued benefit to which a participant is entitled upon separation, shall be a projected normal retirement benefit. Requires a plan offering an optional benefit form, in order not to be treated as having altered a participant's accrued benefit by reason of a change in actuarial assumptions, to set forth such assumptions in a separate document. Requires plans in which a majority of employees are seasonal employees to use 500 hours, rather than 1000 hours, for purposes of defining a year of service. Permits a period of service, in the case of a multiemployer plan, to qualify as a year of participation although a plan makes allowance for delinquent employer contributions. Revises joint and survivor annuity requirements. Allows the assignment of pension plan benefits pursuant to a specific State court decree of divorce, annulment, legal separation, or family support or a court order relating to marital property rights. Prescribes notification requirements with respect to any such assignment. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe methods of measuring service based upon the elapsed time of an employee's service. Subtitle D: Amendments to Funding Provisions - Makes certain revisions with respect to funding, including a requirement that changes in funding method or plan year need be approved only when made more than once in a three-year period, and a requirement that a funding method take into account future benefit changes. Subtitle E: Amendments to Fiduciary Responsibility Provisions - Excludes from the assets of a plan any assets of an insurer which fund the plan and which are not held in separate accounts, other than a contract or policy of insurance issued to the plan, solely by reason of such issuance. Revises provisions regarding the designation and responsibilities of fiduciaries. Permits the return to an employer of an overpayment of withdrawal liability: (1) in the case of a multiemployer plan; and (2) in the case of a multiemployer plan maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements where it is determined that a contribution was made by a mistake of fact or law. Relieves co-fiduciaries to whom a specific duty has not been allocated from liability for an act or omission by a named fiduciary to whom the duty has been allocated. Revises the provisions regarding prohibited transactions by a fiduciary. Revises the definition of "qualifying employer real property" for purposes of the limitation on the acquisition and holding of real property by a plan. Modifies the coverage of the exemption from prohibited transactions effected by the Internal Revenue Code provision which taxes such transactions. Exempts from such prohibitions: (1) certain loans made by a defined contribution plan to a party in interest who is a substantial employer maintaining the plan; and (2) certain leases of personal property between such parties. Conforms certain provisions regarding transactions by parties in interest with provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Extends the prohibited transaction exemption procedure to owner-employees. Excludes from the assets of a plan, for purposes of the prohibited transactions provision and the limitation on the acquisition and holding of employer securities and employer real property, assets in a pooled separate account of an insurer or in a collective investment fund of a bank supervised by the United States or a State. Allows an exclusion, for purposes of such limitation, if the insurer or bank provides a written assurance that the separate account or trust may not acquire any employer securities or employer real property issued by or leased to any employer or affiliate where the aggregate value of such property after such acquisition would exceed ten percent of the fair market value of the assets of the separate account or trust. Permits indemnification by a plan against expenses or liability for losses incurred in connection with any administrative or judicial civil action or proceeding, subject to a determination that the fiduciary has acted in good faith. Subtitle F: Amendments to Administration and Enforcement Provisions - Creates a civil cause of action for collection by a fiduciary of a multiemployer plan of delinquent employer contributions, subject to a six-year statute of limitations (three years after the date of actual knowledge of the cause of action). Makes available to the Department of Labor for purposes of administering ERISA any amounts which become available through the public request of information. Revises the composition of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans to require that one of the employer members be a representative of employers maintaining small plans. Directs the Secretary of Labor to publish at least annually reports showing the number of plans and participants; amounts of assets, income, and expenses; and certain other information categorized by plan size and type. Deems as preempted by ERISA certain provisions of State law: (1) regarding benefits provided by an insurance policy issued to an employee benefit plan; and (2) which treat a participant's interest in a plan as a security or similar right. Deems as not preempted by ERISA certain provisions of State law: (1) which require an insurance policy issued to a plan to permit a participant to convert or continue protection after the termination of the insurance coverage under the plan; and (2) which prohibit such an insurance policy from classifying health care services as ineligible for coverage solely because the provider is licensed as a provider of services other than those rendered by a medical doctor. Specifies that a participant's interest in a plan covered by ERISA shall not be considered a security or similar right for purposes of the Acts administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Subtitle G: Clarifying and Technical Amendments - Makes certain technical changes and corrections. Subtitle H: Reports - Directs the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury to conduct jointly detailed studies of means by which: (1) administrative burdens of ERISA reporting requirements may be reduced; and (2) certain businesses and banking institutions may be enabled to develop master and prototype pension plans. Title IV: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Subtitle A: Amendments Related to Title III Amendments - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make conforming changes in accordance with the provisions of title III of this Act. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Amendments - Includes in the number of calendar years of active participation in a plan, for purposes of capital gains tax treatment of a portion of a lump sum distribution, active participation in another plan maintained by a predecessor employer or by a member of the same controlled group if the participant's employment was continuous between participation in both such plans. Includes such participation in the minimum period of service required for imposition of the separate tax on lump sum distributions. Revises the rule regarding aggregation of certain trusts and plans for purposes of determining the balance to the credit of an employee which becomes payable to the recipient. Deems a separation from service to have occurred, for purposes of the definition of "lump sum distribution," if an employee has not worked in service covered by the plan for six consecutive months following severance of the employment relationship. Subjects target benefit plans to the limitations on benefits and contributions imposed on defined benefit plans. Permits the rollover into individual retirement accounts or retirement bonds of employee contributions used in calculating rollover amounts for purposes of the taxability of the beneficiary of an employees' trust. Treates such contributions as a source of a rollover amount paid or distributed out of an individual retirement account or annuity or transferred from retirement bonds. Excludes from "acquisition indebtedness," for purposes of computing unrelated business taxable income, certain indebtedness to an insurer incurred by a tax-qualified deferred compensation plan. Provides an actuarial adjustment of the average compensation limit on benefits and contributions imposed on defined benefit plans in the case of a participant whose service continues beyond normal retirement age. Reduces from ten years to five years the period for amortization of past service or other supplementary pension or annuity credits for purposes of determining the amount contributed to pension trusts which is deductible. Increases from $7,500 to $15,000 the deductible amount of such contributions on behalf of self-employed individuals. Specifies conditions under which a plan will be deemed not to have engaged in prohibited discrimination. Permits certain plans to be considered non-discriminatory which meet specified benefit- compensation ratio requirements and: (1) exclude employees whose remuneration consists wholly of "wages" (as defined by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act); or (2) the contributions to or benefits from which based on remuneration not deemed "wages" differ from the contributions or benefits based on wages or differ because of retirement benefits created under State or Federal law. Title V: Individual Retirement Payroll Deduction Plans for Employees Not Covered by Pension Plans - Amends ERISA to create a new title V, "Individual Retirement Payroll Deduction Plans for Employees Not Covered by Pension Plans," which requires a covered employer to maintain a plan under which eligible employees (those ineligible for coverage under certain pension or retirement plans) may elect to have payroll deductions applied to an individual retirement account or annuity or a retirement bond. Defines "covered employer" as a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who: (1) had at least 20 employees for each working day in each of at least 20 calendar weeks during the year; and (2) has been engaged in such industry throughout the preceding five-year period. Exempts from such requirement: (1) any covered employer with fewer than ten eligible employees at the close of the preceding calendar year; and (2) any employer who has conducted a referendum of eligible employees the results of which indicate that the number desiring a payroll deduction plan is less than the greater of ten percent of the number of such employees or ten. Imposes civil penalties for failure to maintain such a plan or deduct wages in accordance with an election. Title VI: Amendments Relating to Single-Employer Plans - Subtitle A: Amendments to Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA, with respect to plan termination insurance, to exempt from premium payment requirements any single-employer plan with fewer than 35 participants. Directs the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (Corporation) to: (1) conduct studies, at least once every five years, to determine the premiums needed to maintain basic-benefit guarantee levels for multiemployer and single-employer plans and whether such levels may be increased without increasing the basic-benefit premium for the plans; (2) report such findings to the House Ways and Means and Education and Labor Committees and the Senate Finance and Labor and Human Resources Committees; and (3) transmit to such committees, if a premium increase is necessary or if basic-benefit guarantees may be increased, appropriate revised schedules. Excludes from guaranteed benefits any benefits provided by a plan which become effective or any increase in benefits effected by a plan amendment occurring after the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings by or against the contributing sponsor or other actions are taken for the benefit of such sponsor's creditors. Defines "contributing sponsor" as a trade or business with employees who are retaining or earning credited service under a plan and which is contributing to the plan. Revises procedures for termination of single-employer plans. Provides for the appointment of a trustee of such a plan upon the occurrence of an insurable event. Defines "insurable event" to mean that: (1) there is a liquidation of every contributing sponsor of the plan; (2) the Corporation determines that because of any partial liquidation, it becomes necessary to protect its own interests; or (3) a U.S. district court has determined, upon application of the Corporation, that the appointment of a trustee is necessitated by the financial condition of the plan. Sets forth conditions for the appointment of, and rights and powers of a trustee of a plan. Confers on U.S. district courts jurisdiction to stay certain proceedings with respect to the property of a plan. Revises the requirements regarding reportable events. Limits the payment of benefits attributable to employer contributions, in the event that bankruptcy proceedings by or against the contributing sponsor are initiated or other actions are taken for the benefit of such sponsor's creditors, to payment in the form of an annuity. Specifies exceptions to such limitation. Prohibits plan assets, in such event, from being used to purchase annuities other than those subject to allocation. Requires notification to the Corporation by any person who knows or has reason to know of the occurrence of initiation of bankruptcy proceedings, other actions taken for the benefit of the contributing sponsor's creditors, or specified other steps taken to satisfy past due creditors' obligations. Revises provisions regarding liabilities to the Corporation and withdrawal liability to multiple-employer plans. Defines "multiple-employer plan" as a single-employer plan maintained by at least two trades or businesses which are not under common control. Sets forth rules for determining liability of prior contributing sponsors and trades or businesses which are members of a control group of which a prior contributing sponsor was a member. Revises plan termination insurance requirements with respect to the filing of annual reports. Treats as a trade or business, for the purposes of the rules regarding liabilities of contributing sponsors and employers, any trade or business which ceases to exist by reason of certain corporate reorganizations. Makes jointly and severally liable, for purposes of such rules, any trade or business which transferred its assets and any person to whom such assets are transferred, where a purpose of the transfer was evasion of liability. Modifies the procedure for the enforcement of claims of liability to the Corporation. Treats unpaid distribution contributions to a single-employer plan accruing before the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings with respect to a contributing sponsor as arising from service rendered and contributions accruing during such proceeds as administrative expenses if an insurable event occurs in the course of the proceedings. Specifies that if no insurable event occurs in the course of such proceedings, the contributing sponsor's obligation for payment of contributions shall be the same as that imposed under an assumed executory contract. Treats as ineffective, upon the occurrence of an insurable event with respect to a single-employer plan, a waiver of minimum funding requirements. Subtitle B: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the definition of "accumulated funding deficiency," for purposes of determining whether a plan meets the minimum funding standard, as applied to insolvent plans (other than multiemployer plans). Adds a charge to the funding standard account. Sets forth special rules for the charging and crediting of a funding standard account for any plan year ending after the termination of a single-employer plan for specified reasons. Permits a plan sponsor, for any plan year of a plan other than a multiemployer plan, to determine the ability of the plan to pay benefits when due for the next three plan years if plan assets are less than three times the benefit payments. Deems such plans as insolvent if it is reasonably likely that the plan's available resources will be insufficient to pay benefits when due in any of the next three plan years. Requires such insolvent plans to make contributions equal to the amount necessary for the plan year to pay benefits when due. Treats as deductible contributions of an employer to a plan any amount paid by an employer to a terminated single-employer plan. Revises the definition of "employer," for purposes of such deduction, minimum funding standards, and the excise tax imposed for failure to meet such standards, to include a person other than the contributing sponsor who agrees to make contributions to a plan which preclude the occurrence of an insurable event. Subtitle C: Amendments to Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA to require the filing of terminal reports by terminated pension plans. Makes conforming changes in accordance with the amendments in Subtitle B of this title.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that U.S. foreign policy should reflect a national strategy of peace through strength with specified principles and goals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1981
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to develop standard accounting, auditing and financial management policies for the administration, accounting, and financial auditing of Federal assistance programs to State and local governments and nonprofit tax-exempt organizations. Directs that such standards shall include: (1) terms, definitions and conditions used in such grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements; (2) generally accepted accounting principles and standards; (3) uniform requirements for grant application forms; (4) uniform principles and standards for financial management; and (5) uniform payment policies for grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Requires a single independent financial and compliance audit every two years of: (1) State and local governments and subgrantees; and (2) nonprofit organizations and subgrantees which receive Federal assistance in excess of $100,000 per year. Requires such an audit once every five years in the case of recipients of less than $100,000 per year. Directs that such audits shall be audits of the recipient, rather than audits of individual grants and programs. Provides that State and local governments and nonprofit organizations shall have the responsibility for such financial and compliance audits. Requires that such audits be made by independent auditors. Requires the Director to prescribe appropriate means for the reimbursement of independent auditors. Requires the Director to establish a quality review process for such audits. Provides that the Federal government shall be responsible through such quality review process for determining that such audits meet generally accepted standards. States that nothing in this Act limits the authority of Federal agencies to make audits of Federal grants-in-aid, provided that, if such independent audits meet accepted standards, Federal agencies shall rely on these audits and any additional audit work shall build upon the work already done.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1981
Postal Service Amendments of 1981 - Authorizes the United States Postal Service to issue written demands requiring access to books, records, documents, or other objects believed to relate to any postal offense or civil matter under investigation by the Postal Service. Provides for the enforcement of such a demand by the appropriate district court. Authorizes the Postal Service to issue an order requiring any person to cease and desist from conducting a lottery or scheme for obtaining money or property by false representations through the mail. Declares that the resumption of such an activity through the use of any instrumentality of interstate commerce shall be considered to be a failure to comply with such order. Permits the Postal Service, in investigating whether a person is conducting such an activity, to tender the price of any article or service that such person has offered for sale. Declares that failure by such person to provide such article or service, or failure to comply with a written demand of the Postal Service for access to materials, shall constitute probable cause to believe such person is engaged in such activities, warranting the detention of such person's incoming mail. Establishes a civil penalty to be assessed by the Postal Service, after an opportunity for an agency hearing, against any person who: (1) attempts to evade an order directing the postmaster to return mail addressed to such person; (2) fails to comply with a cease and desist; or (3) assists another person in evading such an order.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1981
Preservation of Confidential Information Act - Amends the Freedom of Information Act to establish procedures under which submitters of information may object to agency disclosure of such information. Requires an agency to give written notice to a submitter of information whenever such agency receives a request for information not already in the public domain which has been obtained from any private source or which concerns any individually identifiable private party. Permits a submitter to provide the agency with written objections to disclosure of the records. Directs an agency to provide a submitter who makes a timely request an informal ex parte hearing. Requires the agency to make a final decision regarding disclosure within 30 days of the hearing. Subjects an agency determination following such procedures to disclose all or part of the records to de novo review in Federal district court. Requires the agency to sustain its action by a preponderance of the evidence. Authorizes the court to assess against the United States attorney fees and other costs in any case in which the complainant has substantially prevailed. Requires the Special Counsel to initiate a disciplinary proceeding whenever the court orders the withholding of agency records improperly disclosed by an agency and issues a written finding that the records raise the question of whether agency personnel acted arbitrarily or capriciously. Includes among the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget the promulgation of a uniform system of rules in conformance with the Freedom of Information Act with which agencies shall make information available to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1981
Postsecondary Student Assistance Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to limit the amount of any student loan made after October 1, 1981, which may be covered by Federal loan insurance to the student's financial need for the period of instruction covered by the loan. Sets similar limits on loans insured under State or nonprofit private institutional student loan programs which receive Federal interest subsidy payments. Applies provisions for need analysis to such loans (under the guaranteed student loan program). Repeals provisions which counted specified student loans as part of the expected family contribution for purposes of other forms of student assistance. Permits loans to parents to be counted as part of the student's expected family contribution in the determination of need for all forms of student assistance under such Act. Revises need analysis provisions for higher education student assistance programs. Deletes provisions which specified that effective family income includes certain social security student benefits and one-half of veterans' education assistance. Directs the Secretary of Education to set a series of assessment rates to be applied to parental discretionary income in determining the expected family contribution. Eliminates a provision excluding all equity in a single principal place of residence from the computation of assets of a student or family. Raises the asset reserve which may be deducted from the net value of such assets from $10,000 to $25,000, or, in cases where a business or farm are part of such assets, from $50,000 to $100,000. Provides that the Secretary shall determine, for "cost of attendance" student assistance purposes, specified allowances for: (1) books, supplies, transportation, and personal expenses; (2) required residential training expenses for correspondence students; (3) expenses for formal study abroad; (4) child care expenses; and (5) expenses of handicapped students. Directs the Secretary, for purposes of the basic educational opportunity grant ("Pell grant") program, to determine specified room and board expenses. Raises the annual interest rate on loans to parents of dependent undergraduate students from nine percent to 14 percent. Sets forth formulas for computing the special allowance to be paid to holders of such loans. Removes the separate (and higher) borrowing limits for independent students for loans covered by Federal loan insurance. Eliminates grace periods after deferments of student loan repayments. Eliminates repayment deferments during Peace Corps or Domestic Volunteer service and during internships. Eliminates the program of payments by the Secretary to institutions to cover the administrative costs of the student loan program (at ten dollars per student lender per academic year). Authorizes eligible institutions to collect from student lenders up to ten dollars per academic year to cover such administrative costs. Provides for the reduction of special allowances to holders of loans made on or after October 1, 1981, by specified amounts of authorized origination fees. Authorizes eligible lenders, with respect to loans made on or after October 1, 1981, to charge borrowers an origination fee up to four percent of the principal amount of the loan, which may be deducted from the proceeds of the loan prior to payment to the borrower. Raises the minimum annual repayment on student loans from $360 to $600. Revises provisions relating to the Student Loan Marketing Association to expand the functions of the Association to: (1) cover student loans including, but no longer limited to insured loans; and (2) assure nationwide the establishment of adequate loan insurance programs for students by providing for an additional program of loan insurance to be covered by agreements with the Secretary. Authorizes the Association to: (1) buy, sell, hold, underwrite, and otherwise deal in tax-exempt obligations issued to make or purchase loans; (2) undertake a program of loan insurance pursuant to specified agreements with the Secretary relating to interest subsidy payments and loan insurance supplemental guaranties; (3) undertake any other activity which its Board of Directors determines to be in furtherance of programs of specified insured student loans or will otherwise support student credit needs; and (4) undertake any activity with regard to student loans which are not insured or guaranteed as it may undertake with regard to insured or guaranteed student loans. Subjects such loans to the same provisions, relating to warehousing advances made on loan security, as insured loans. Specifies that: (1) the obligations of the Association shall be deemed to be obligations of the United States, for purposes of exemption from State or local taxation; and (2) the Association shall be deemed a person for purposes of distribution of its property under the Bankruptcy Act. Removes certain limitations on subrogration of the United States to rights of any insurance beneficiary under specified student loan guarantee agreements. Requires guarantee agencies to assign to the Secretary any loan for which payment has been made under such guarantee agreements, whenever the Secretary determines this necessary to protect the Federal fiscal interest. Sets forth effective dates for various provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1981
Interstate Compacts - Grants the consent and approval of Congress to amendments made by the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit regulation compact which delete the requirement that laborers and mechanics employed by the contractors and subcontractors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1981
Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 to exempt construction contracts and subcontracts financed by loans or grants made to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority under such Act from the prevailing wage provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1981
Elementary and Secondary Education Consolidation Act of 1981 - Title I: Financial Assistance to Meet Special Educational Needs - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1982 through 1986 to provide financial assistance to States and local educational agencies to improve educational achievement, especially in basic skills and career preparation, for educationally deprived children, handicapped children, children in schools undergoing desegregation, migratory children, children in institutions for neglected or delinquent children or in adult correctional institutions, and adults lacking basic skills. Sets forth new formulas, based on low-income and school age populations, by which the Secretary of Education shall allot sums appropriated under this title to: (1) specified territories and possessions of the U.S.; (2) the Secretary of the Interior for special educational needs of Indian children on reservations; and (3) States, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, for grants to local educational agencies and for the needs of specified groups for which the State has responsibility. Sets forth transitional formulas for such assistance for fiscal years 1982 and 1983, based on previous assistance received under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Education of the Handicapped Act, the Emergency School Aid Act, and the Adult Education Act. Sets forth formulas for the allocation of sums received by States to: (1) local educational agencies; and (2) programs for handicapped children in specified schools, neglected or delinquent children or children in adult correctional institutions, migratory children, and adults lacking basic skills. Requires that local educational agencies use such funds only for programs to meet the special educational needs of: (1) educationally deprived children residing in public school attendance areas with high concentrations of such children; (2) handicapped children; and (3) children in schools undergoing desegregation. Allows the local agency to determine which needs to address with such funds and how to meet those needs. Title II: Financial Assistance for Improvement of School Resources and Performance - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1982 through 1986 to provide financial assistance to States for the improvement of instructional and management practices, student achievement, special needs services, and State oversight and management functions. Sets forth formulas for allotments to States of such funds, based on school-age population (with specified amounts reserved for territorial and Indian education). Sets forth transitional formulas for fiscal years 1982 and 1983, based on previous assistance received under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Emergency School Aid Act, the Education of the Handicapped Act, the Career Education Incentive Act, the Economic Opportunity Act, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Education Act, the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, the Higher Education Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sets forth the types of activities relating to preschool, elementary, secondary, and adult basic education for which funds allotted to States under this title may be used. Permits States to use such funds to directly supervise and control such activities or to make subgrants to and contracts with public or private agencies. Provides that subgrants may be made only to public or nonprofit organizations and clear consideration may be given to community-based self-help organizations of demonstrated effectiveness. Title III: General Provisions - Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) State plans; (2) State activities reports; (3) audits; (4) local educational agency transition plans; (5) participation of children enrolled in private schools; (6) complaint resolutions; and (7) nondiscrimination. Authorizes the use of specified amounts received by States under this Act for administrative activities. Sets forth provisions relating to the availability of appropriations and insufficient appropriations. Specifies which provisions of the General Education Provisions Act are applicable, and which are inapplicable, to programs under this Act. Declares that the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 applies to such programs. Repeals: (1) titles I (Financial Assistance to Meet Special Educational Needs of Children), II (Basic Skills Improvement), III Parts B and C (Metric Education and Arts in Education), IV (Educational Improvement, Resources, and Support), V (State Leadership), VI (Emergency School Aid), VIII (Community Schools), and IX (Gifted and Talented Children, Educational Proficiency Standards, Women's Educational Equity, Special Grants for Safe Schools) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; (2) the Education of the Handicapped Act (except specified provisions for: definitions; centers and services for deaf-blind children; early education for handicapped children; research, innovation, training, and dissemination; regional educational programs; authorizations of appropriations; educational personnel recruiting and dissemination of information; reports; research; and instructional media); (3) the Teacher Corps and teacher centers programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965; (4) the Adult Education Act (except provisions for education of adult Indians); (5) the Career Education Incentive Act; (6) the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Education Act; and (7) the Day Care Projects program under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1981
Directs the Postmaster General to issue a postage stamp to honor the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1981
Amends the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and the Walsh- Healey Act, which apply to employees of Government contractors, to require overtime compensation only for hours of employment in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1981
Employee Retirement Savings Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employees who are participants in tax-qualified employer retirement plans an income tax deduction for contributions to such plans or to individual retirement plans. Limits the amount of such deduction to the amount by which the employee's compensation for the taxable year or $2,000, whichever is less, exceeds the sum of amounts contributed by the employer for an annuity contract and any amount of employment tax which would be paid if the employee were subject to the employment tax.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1981
Arts and Humanities Tax Reform Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the executor of an estate, in calculating the value of the gross estate, to disregard that portion of the value of any copyright, or literary, musical, or artistic work created by the decedent which would have been ordinary income if such work had been sold by the decedent at its fair market value. Allows an income tax deduction for the current fair market value of a literary, musical, or artistic composition created by the taxpayer and contributed to a charitable organization. Disallows such estate tax valuation and charitable contribution deduction if the property was produced while the taxpayer was a Government officer or employee and arose out of the performance of the taxpayer's duties. Permits a tax deduction for the business use of a home if such dwelling unit is used to a substantial extent (rather than exclusively) for the taxpayer's trade or business. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to submit to the appropriate Congressional committees legislative recommendations with respect to such deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that accruals of benefits or forfeitures in a tax- qualified deferred compensation plan, which would otherwise be deemed discriminatory against certain classes of employees, will not be considered to have taken place if: (1) the total present values of such nonforfeitable benefits attributable to employee-officers or shareholders is less than the total present values of nonforfeitable benefits of all other employees; (2) employee-officers or shareholders having nonforfeitable benefits constitute a classification set up by the employer and found by the Secretary of the Treasury to be non-discriminatory; or (3) the deferred compensation plan provides that an employee who has completed at least four years of service has a nonforfeitable right to a specified percentage of the accrued benefit derived from employer contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1981
Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1981 - Title I: Information Practices: Use of Consumer Reporting Agencies - Amends the Privacy Act of 1974 to permit a Federal agency to disclose records pertaining to an individual to a consumer reporting agency. Authorizes a Federal agency attempting to collect a claim under the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 to notify a consumer reporting agency that a person is responsible for a claim if: (1) the agency has sent a written notice informing the person that a consumer reporting agency will be contacted, describing the information to be disclosed, and explaining the person's right to dispute the agency's claim; (2) the person has not agreed to repay the claim or filed for review of the claim; (3) the agency has reviewed the claim, if requested; and (4) the agency has obtained assurances that the consumer reporting agency complies with Federal laws governing the provision of consumer credit information. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish regulations requiring each agency with outstanding debts to submit annual reports on the amount and number of such debts, the interest charged on such debts, the cost to the agency of collecting debts, and other information on the agency's debt collection activities. Requires the Director to report annually to Congress on the management of agency debt collection activities. Title II: Collection Practices for Defaulted Student Loans - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1954 to require the Secretary of Education to analyze, quarterly, the collection status of defaulted Federal, federally-guaranteed, and federally-insured student loans. Directs the Secretary: (1) to notify the borrower of a defaulted loan of the consequences of not repaying the loan; (2) to attempt to enter into a repayment agreement with the borrower; and (3) if such attempt is not successful within 180 days of the loan becoming defaulted, to engage a nonprofit collection agency to service the loan. Directs the Secretary to refer any loan which is not under a repayment agreement within one year after being placed with a collection agency, to: (1) the Attorney General if the projected outstanding balance exceeds $600; or (2) the Secretary of the Treasury for collection. Requires the Attorney General to establish procedures for the efficient collection of such loans. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to require any borrower of a defaulted loan referred to the Secretary of the Treasury to pay the amount owed: (1) with income tax imposed for the year of the referral; or (2) by other methods prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Grants the Secretary of the Treasury the same powers to assess and collect such defaulted loans as if such amounts were imposed income taxes, the collection of which would be jeopardized by delay. Exempts any such collection or assessment from review by a Federal court. Directs the Comptroller General to analyze the systems for collecting student loans established under this Act, and to submit to Congress recommendations for the application of these systems to the collection of other loans made, insured, or guaranteed by the Government. Title III: Collection of Child-Support Obligations - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to certify the amount of child support obligations assigned to a State for collection by the Secretary of the Treasury without regard to whether a State agrees to reimburse the United States for collection costs. Shortens the period that collection of such an obligation is stayed after service of the notice and demand for payment in the case of the first delinquency assessment against an individual. Title VI: Higher Interest Charges During Periods of Default for All Federal Loan Programs - Requires each agency which administers a program providing direct Federal loans to include in any such loan a provision stating that the interest rate on the loan for each month during which the loan is in default may be increased to a rate equal to the Federal borrowing cost. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate regulations for the uniform implementation of this title. Title V: Other Provisions Relating to the Collection of Federal Claims - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to direct the Secretary of the Treasury, by January 15 of each year, to notify any person owing a debt (excluding student loans) to a Federal agency for the preceding year of the amount and method of payment of such debt. Requires such person to pay the debt with his or her income taxes or as prescribed by the Secretary. Grants the Secretary the same powers to assess and collect such debts as if such amounts were imposed income taxes, the collection of which would be jeopardized by delay. Permits the head of an agency to garnish an employee's wages to pay any debt owed to the United States because of an erroneous payment to the individual by another agency. Declares that the statute of limitations for actions brought by the United States for money damages shall not bar the Government from collecting money payable to an individual by administrative offset if the individual is provided with an opportunity for an administrative hearing subject to judicial review. Authorizes the Secretary to disclose a taxpayer's address to an agency or an agency contractor engaged in a proceeding to collect a Federal claim. Permits such agency or contractor to redisclose such information. Authorizes appropriations for the employment in the Internal Revenue Service of sufficient personnel to collect all Federal tax liabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1981
Food Stamp Reform Act of 1981 - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to make individuals 19 years of age or over, with countable income and participating in the food stamp program as a member of an eligible household, liable for any benefits received in excess of an exempt amount. Sets forth the method of determining such amount and such liability. Requires the liability to be paid as if it were a personal income tax imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Directs State agencies administering the food stamp program to notify such individuals before February 1 of each calendar year of the amount of coupons allotted to them and to notify the Secretary of the Treasury before March 1 of such amounts and the names and addresses of such individuals. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer sufficient appropriated funds to the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the collection of assessed funds to the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the collection of assessed liabilities. Provides for the distribution of such collected amounts to State administrative agencies. Makes technical and conforming amendments to the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 consistent with provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1981
Federal Lending Oversight and Control Act - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to provide a statutory basis for controlling loans and loan guarantees under Federal credit programs through the congressional budget process. Title I: Reports Regarding Federal Credit Activity - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than February 1 and August 1 of each year, in consultation with the Council of Economic Advisors, to transmit a report to both Houses of Congress regarding Federal credit activity during the previous six month period. Requires each such report to examine the relationship between Federal credit activity during the previous six-month period and: (1) the condition of the economy; (2) the availability and cost of credit in the private sector; and (3) the exercise of monetary and fiscal policy by the Federal Government. Amends the Federal Reserve Act to direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in their biannual reports to Congress concerning recent developments affecting economic trends in the Nation, to examine the effects of Federal credit activity on the availability and cost of credit in the private sector and on the exercise of monetary policy by the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee. Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to require the President, in his annual budget statement to the Congress, to include all essential facts regarding direct lending by the Government and guarantees by the Government of the repayment of indebtedness incurred by another person or government. Title II: Changes in Congressional Budget Procedures - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the first concurrent resolution on the budget for each fiscal year to set forth the appropriate level of total gross obligations for the principal amount of direct loans and the appropriate level of total commitments to guarantee loans and to allocate such totals among the major functional categories of the budget. Directs each standing committee of the House and Senate to submit its estimates of direct loan obligations and loan guarantee commitments provided for in legislation under its jurisdiction by March 15 of each year for consideration of the Budget Committee in formulating the budget resolution. Directs the House and Senate Banking Committees to submit recommendations to the Budget Committees for the aggregate levels of direct loans and loan guarantees in each fiscal year. Requires the joint explanatory statement accompanying a conference report on the concurrent resolution on the budget to include an estimate allocation of the total levels of direct loan obligations and loan guarantee commitments among the committees of the House and Senate. Directs the Committees on Appropriations to provide such an allocation among their subcommittees as soon as practicable after a budget resolution has been agreed to. Requires the House Committee on Appropriations, before reporting any regular appropriations bills, to submit a summary report to the House comparing the credit authority contained in such bills to the levels agreed to in the budget resolution. Requires any report accompanying legislation conferring new budget authority or increasing tax expenditures to include information on direct loan obligations and loan guarantee commitments. Establishes a deadline for the completion of action on legislation providing credit authority. Requires the second concurrent resolution on the budget in any fiscal year and the reconciliation process to take into account Federal obligations and commitments on loans and loan guarantees. Declares out of order any measure brought up for consideration in either House which would increase the level of loan obligations and guarantee commitments agreed to in the budget process. Requires any authority to guarantee the payment of any indebtedness to be contingent on provisions in appropriation Acts. Title III: Amendments to House Rules - Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each standing committee (other than the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on the Budget) to review and make appropriate recommendations with respect to the consistency and uniformity of the different definitions, default provisions, policies, interest rates, and other terms and conditions relating to direct loan, loan insurance, and loan guarantee activities included in any laws of which the subject matter is within the jurisdiction of that committee. Title IV: Construction and Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates of the titles of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Committee Improvement Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each standing committee, not later than 60 days after the Congress convenes, to submit an oversight agenda to the Committee on Government Operations. Directs such committee to hold hearings at which the chairman and ranking minority member of each standing committee shall testify on the oversight accomplishments of the preceding Congress and the proposed oversight agenda for the new Congress. Requires the Committee on Government Operations, not later than 90 days after the Congress convenes, to report to the House an oversight agenda resolution which incorporates such agendas of all standing committees, and additional recommendations of the committee. Directs the House to complete action on such resolution not later than 90 days after the Congress convenes, to report to the House an oversight agenda resolution which incorporates such agendas of all standing committees, and additional recommendations of the committee. Directs the House to complete action on such resolution not later than 180 days after the Congress convenes. Directs the Speaker of the House to initially refer each bill, resolution, or other matter to one committee of principal jurisdiction. Eliminates the authority of the Speaker to refer any such matter to two or more committees for concurrent consideration. Requires the membership of each committee, select committee, and conference committee (and each subcommittee, task force, or subunit thereof) to reflect the ratio of majority to minority Members. Provides that such ratio be reflected for standing committees at the beginning of each Congress, and for select and conference committees at the time of appointment. Prohibits any standing committee to establish more than six subcommittees, and any Member to serve at any one time on more than four subcommittees. Defines subcommittee as any subunit of a standing committee established for a period of more than six months. Prohibits the vote by any member of any committee or subcommittee to be cast by proxy. Provides that a majority of members of each committee or subcommittee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business. Prohibits the House to consider any primary expense resolution until the Committee on House Administration has reported and the House has adopted a resolution establishing committee staff personnel ceilings for that year. Requires such committee to specify in any primary or supplemental expense resolution the number of staff positions authorized therein. Authorizes the House to consider any supplemental expense resolution in excess of such ceiling by a vote of two-thirds of the Members present.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Authorizes expenditures for a special study and investigation by the Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations. Provides that such study relate the impact and effect of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 on public and private pension and welfare plans. Directs such Subcommittee to report to the House of Representatives as soon as practical during the present Congress on the results of such study.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1981
Inspector General Act Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish an Office of Inspector General in the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Treasury and in the Agency for International Development (AID). Transfers to such Offices the functions of specified existing audit and investigation offices of such Departments and Agency. Authorizes the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to use part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus to conduct an audit or investigation. Requires the Inspector General for AID, as requested by the Director of the United States International Development Cooperation Agency (IDCA), to direct all audit, investigative, and security activities of IDCA.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1981
Amends the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) to remove the requirement that unemployment benefits be paid on the basis of services performed in public service jobs under CETA programs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1981
Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require Congress, within 45 days after the President notifies Congress of his intention to rescind appropriated budget authority, to pass a resolution disapproving such rescission in order to make such budget authority available for obligation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1981
Balanced Budget and Deficit Control Act of 1981 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to make a Congressional declaration that it is essential to provide for a balanced Federal budget. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that the first concurrent resolution on the budget, on which Congress must complete action on or before May 15 of each year, provide a balanced budget for such year and for the succeeding fiscal year. Specifies that if changes in laws, bills, or resolutions are necessary in connection with any such concurrent resolution on the budget in order to assure that there is no deficit in the budget for either of the fiscal years to which such concurrent resolution relates, such concurrent resolution shall appropriately direct the legislative committees involved to determine and recommend such changes. Makes it out of order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider or adopt any concurrent resolution on the budget, to consider or adopt any amendment to such a concurrent resolution, or to adopt a conference report on such concurrent resolution, if at the time of such consideration or adoption the level of total budget outlays which is set forth in such concurrent resolution for either of the two fiscal years to which it relates exceeds the recommended level of Federal revenues for that year. Permits the suspension of such provisions: (1) upon a Presidential request, approved by Congress; (2) upon a recommendation by the Budget Committee of either the House or the Senate and approval of the Congress; and (3) with respect to any fiscal year in which the United States is at war pursuant to a declaration of war by the Congress. Permits revisions of the first concurrent resolution on the budget at any time after it has been agreed to pursuant to such Act before the end of the first fiscal year to which such resolution relates. Requires such revision to meet the same balanced budget requirements as the original concurrent resolution and provide for the same suspension of such requirements. Requires the second concurrent resolution on the budget to be for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year and the succeeding fiscal year. Makes it out of order in either the House or the Senate to receive or consider any amendment to a reconciliation bill or reconciliation resolution if such amendment would have the effect of increasing any specific budget outlays above the level of such outlays contained in the bill or resolution as reported, or would reduce any specific Federal revenues below the level of such revenues as reported, unless it includes or is accompanied by an amendment which assures that total budget outlays are not increased and that total Federal revenues are not reduced by making an equivalent reduction in other specific budget outlays or an equivalent increase in other specific Federal revenues. Makes it out of order in either the House or the Senate, at any time after the Congress has completed action on the first concurrent resolution on the budget, and if a reconciliation bill or resolution is required to be reported in connection with such resolution after that bill has been enacted into law or such resolution has been agreed to, to consider any bill or resolution or amendment which provides for budget outlays, new budget authority in excess of the appropriated allocation, or new spending authority. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to state that any references to "a fiscal year" or "the fiscal year" with respect to a concurrent resolution on the budget shall be treated as references made separately to each of the two fiscal years to which such concurrent resolution relates. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require each committee required by such Act to report on a concurrent resolution on the budget to make such report within ten legislative days after the concurrent resolution is agreed to. Amends the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, to require the President, from time to time during the fiscal year, to ensure that the budget complies with the requirements of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Requires such budget to be balanced, but permits the President to recommend alternative balanced budgets with outlays and revenues at higher or lower levels to take account of possible changes in economic conditions or other circumstances. Requires such budget transmitted by the President to be accompanied by a projected budget for the succeeding fiscal year. Permits a suspension of such requirements upon a Presidential request or if the United States is at war pursuant to a declaration of war by Congress. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, with respect to any fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 1983, to analyze the level of Federal revenues and budget outlays during the fiscal quarter beginning October 1 and ending December 31 in that year for the purpose of determining the levels of total revenues and budget outlays which may be anticipated for such fiscal year and whether such revenues will be sufficient to equal or exceed such outlays. Requires the Director to report to the President and Congress not later than January 3 if he determines that such revenues will not be sufficient to equal or exceed such outlays and to identify the amount of any such insufficiency and the percentage of total controllable expenditures which such insufficiency represents. Requires the President, upon receipt of such a report, to issue an order sequestering such amounts of budget authority as are necessary to reduce each such controllable expenditure by that percentage and to transmit to Congress a message identifying: (1) the total amount of budget authority which is to be sequestered; (2) the annuity budget authority which is to be sequestered with respect to each such controllable expenditure in order to reduce it by the required percentage; and (3) the account, department, or establishment from which each amount of budget authority is available for obligation and the specific project or governmental functions involved. Makes such an order effective from and after the date of its issuance except to the extent revised or abrogated by the Congress pursuant to this Act. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by Congress in reviewing such an order. Permits the Budget Committee of the House or the Senate, at any time after the promulgation of such an order, to report a concurrent resolution suspending, in whole or in part, the operation of such order. Defines the term "controllable expenditures" as expenditures which may be reduced without breaching any obligation, contractual or otherwise, of the United States to make payments. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to submit to the House and Senate Budget Committee recommendations concerning further refinement in the definition and identification of controllable expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow business enterprises engaged in the manufacture, importation, distribution, lease or sale of any product for which product liability may be incurred an income tax deduction for amounts paid to its product liability loss reserve account and to its captive insurer (wholly or partially-owned by the business). Limits the availability of such deduction to businesses with a severe product liability insurance problem, as defined by this Act. Sets forth a formula for determining the maximum allowable amount of the deduction. Disallows a deduction for product liability losses which do not exceed the sum of the amount in the product liability loss reserve account of the taxpayer at the beginning of the taxable year, plus the total amount of deductible payments to such account. Requires the recapture of amounts deducted if funds from a product liability loss reserve account are used for an unauthorized purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1981
Patent Term Restoration Act of 1981 - Amends the patent law to extend the terms of patents which encompass specified products or a method for using a product any of which are subject to certain nonpatent regulatory review periods. Sets forth the terms and conditions of such extension, including a seven year limitation. Directs the Commissioner of Patents to issue to the owner of record of a patent a certificate of extension stating the fact and length of the extension and identifying the product and the use and the claim to which such extension is applicable. Makes such certificate a part of the original patent. Limits the application of such patent term extension to patents for products subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Act of March 4, 1913 (relating to virus, serum, toxin, and analogous products).
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1981
Education Reorganization Act of 1981 - Title I: Establishment of the Department - Establishes an Executive department to be known as the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), to be administered by a Secretary, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sets forth provisions for the principal officers of such Department. Title II: Transfer of Agencies and Functions - Transfers to the Secretary all functions of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Transfers to the Department all offices of the Department of Health and Human Services. Transfers to the Secretary and to the Department all functions and all offices of the Secretary of Education and of the Department of Education, except for specified functions and offices relating to the operation of overseas schools for military dependents, which are transferred to the Secretary of Defense and the Department of Defense. Title III: Administrative Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) appoint offices and employees to carry out the functions of the Secretary and the Department; and (2) obtain, as provided in appropriation Acts, the services of experts and consultants. Directs the Secretary, by the end of the first fiscal year beginning after the enactment of this Act, to submit to the President and the Congress legislative recommendations for redesignating or replacing HEW programs so that such programs can be administered by fewer personnel. Requires that the sum of the number of full-time permanent positions that perform functions to be transferred to the Department by this Act, plus the full-time equivalent of the number of experts and consultants hired, be reduced by one thousand by the end of the second such fiscal year and not increased thereafter. Sets forth general administrative provisions for the Department, including those relating to general authority, delegation, reorganization, rules, contracts, regional and field offices, acquisitions and maintenance of authority, facilities at remote locations, use of facilities, copyrights and patents, gifts and bequests, technical advice, working capital fund, funds transfer, seal of department, and annual report. Authorizes appropriations for the Department for fiscal year 1982 and succeeding fiscal years. Title IV: Transitional, Savings, and Conforming Provisions - Sets forth provisions relating to the transfer and allocation of appropriations and personnel, the effect on personnel, agency terminations, and incidental transfers. Sets forth: (1) savings provisions; (2) provisions for separability; (3) conforming references, amendments, and redesignations; and (4) transition provisions. Title V: Effective Date and Interim Appointments - Sets forth the effective date for the provisions of this Act. Provides for interim appointments under specified conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Administrative Rulemaking Reform Act - Directs a Federal agency preparing to hold a rulemaking session to make a reasonable effort to inform those likely to be affected by the proposed rulemaking. Requires the notice of rulemaking to include: (1) the projected effective date of the rules; (2) the purpose of the rulemaking; (3) the text of the proposed rules; and (4) the studies on which the agency intends to rely in the rulemaking proceedings. Requires public notice and public opportunity for comment on all rulemaking proceedings unless the agency finds that proposed rules are emergency rules or are of routine or insignificant impact. Requires Federal agencies to give interested persons at least 45 days to participate in the rulemaking. Provides for agency hearings to receive oral comments, and procedures to resolve significant controversies over factual issues. Requires each agency to maintain a public file of all relevant material and required statements for each rulemaking. Prohibits adoption of a proposed rule that has been revised substantially unless interested persons are provided an opportunity to comment on such revisions. Sets forth an expedited rulemaking procedure for rules to replace emergency rules. Directs each agency to submit a copy of each promulgated rule to each House of Congress. Declares that no rule, excluding an emergency rule, shall become effective if: (1) both Houses of Congress adopt a concurrent resolution disapproving it within 90 days of continuous session of Congress; or (2) one House adopts such a resolution within 60 such days and the other House does not disapprove such resolution within 30 days thereafter. Authorizes either House to adopt a resolution directing an agency to reconsider and repromulgate a newly promulgated rule or an existing rule within a specified period. Provides that if such agency fails to act such rule shall lapse. Directs the Administrative Conference of the United States to study and report on the effects on rulemaking of the Congressional review provisions of this Act. Authorizes appropriations for such study. Directs a court reviewing an agency rule to set aside any rule found to be unwarranted by material in the rulemaking file.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Food Stamp Act Reform Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to provide that an authorization card held by an eligible household show any amount to be paid by such household for an allotment of food stamp coupons. Excludes the use of food stamps by persons 60 years of age or older or those receiving supplemental security income benefits at private establishments that contract with State agencies to sell food at concessional prices. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make adjustments to uniform allotments for households with respect to the age and sex of its members. Includes energy assistance payments as household income for purposes of the food stamp program. Excludes households from food stamp assistance if any member who is physically and mentally fit refuses to accept employment under a State workfare program established by this Act. Exempts any household member responsible for the care of a dependent child under the age of six (currently the age of 12) from such workfare program requirement. Prohibits households eligible for food stamp benefits prior to a member going on strike from receiving increased benefits as a result of such strike. Prohibits any household from participating in the food stamp program for any month such household exceeds specified earned income and certain nonfarm income poverty guidelines prescribed by the Office of Management and Budget. Exempts households containing a member 60 years of age or over or a member who receives certain payments under the Social Security Act from such prohibition. Eliminates provisions which reduce the value of allotments to eligible households by a specified percentage of such household's income. Sets forth a formula for reducing the value of allotments to households containing members who participate in the national school lunch program under the National School Lunch Act. Provides that the value of an allotment in excess of the amount charged for such allotment shall not be considered income for purposes of Federal, State, or local laws. Sets forth standards and procedures for determining which households, and the amount such households, shall be charged for allotments. Requires that funds received by coupon issuers from such charges shall be deposited into the Treasury and that State agencies be notified of such deposits in a manner prescribed by regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture. Sets forth penalties for violations of such regulations. Revises requirements of the monthly operations report to be submitted by coupon issuers to the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to require State agencies to provide periodic reports on the receipt of coupon issuer notifications of deposits. Directs the Secretary and the U.S. Postal Service to jointly arrange for the prompt deposit of such funds collected by the Service on behalf of a State. Prohibits State agencies from conducting food stamp outreach activities with funds provided by this Act. Requires the Secretary to issue regulations for State agencies to establish and operate workfare programs which make available public employment for certain food stamp recipients. Directs the Secretary to develop and implement evaluation measures to determine the effectiveness of workfare programs established by this Act. Makes technical and conforming amendments to the Food Stamp Act of 1977 consistent with the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should seek the establishment of an International Office of Diplomatic Security within the United Nations to: (1) monitor compliance with international agreements concerning the protection of diplomats and diplomatic property; (2) conduct inspections in countries where there are indications of potential danger to diplomatic missions; (3) issue warnings if it determines that a country is unable or unwilling to provide adequate protection for diplomatic missions; and (4) refer such cases to the U.N. Security Council for consideration of international sanctions or security assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Government Contractors' Product Liability Act of 1981 - Includes periods of military service in computing any period of limitation on the filing of an action by or against any person in military service to enforce any liability of a supplier of a product to the Government with respect to such product. Directs the Government to indemnify a supplier for product liability unless a court determines that such liability is a result of the supplier's negligence. Declares that the United States consents to be sued for indemnity under this Act. Permits the indemnification of a supplier only if the settlement or compromise of a product liability claim is approved by the Attorney General or an appropriate court adjudicating an action seeking indemnification. Requires any product supplied to a foreign government under a Federal program to be considered a product supplied to the United States Government for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Eliminates specified limitations on excess profits from contracts with any military department for the construction or manufacture of aircraft and naval vessels.
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
Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires the rate of wages for workers employed on public buildings by contractors to be based upon the prevailing wages for corresponding classes of workers employed on similar projects in the same area.
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 · 19 January 1981
Family Enterprise Estate and Gift Tax Equity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the unified credit against the estate and gift taxes from $47,000 to $155,800 by specified annual increments through 1985. Increases from $175,000 to $500,000, by specified annual increments through 1985, the minimum gross estate requirement for filing of a return. Repeals the existing limitations on the marital deduction for gift and estate taxes. Increases from $3,000 to $6,000 the annual gift tax exclusion. Qualifies estates of decedents who were disabled or retired for the special valuation of certain farms based on use if such decedents materially participated in the operation of the farm for five out of eight years preceding the year in which they became disabled or eligible for disability benefits, under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Permits the spouse of a decedent to use such valuation if the spouse has managed the farm or business for ten years preceding the decedent's death or takes over active management upon the decedent's death. Qualifies the owner of a woodland for the special use valuation if the owner or a member of the owner's family actively managed the property for ten years prior to the owner's death. Reduces from 15 to ten years the length of time a qualified property must be held and put to a qualified use following the decedent's death before it can be disposed of without incurring a recapture of estate tax benefits. Permits active management rather than material participation as a test for qualification of the estate for spouses, children under 21, students, and disabled individuals who receive property from a decedent who qualified for special use valuation. Repeals the $500,000 limitation on the reduction of the value of qualified real property permitted by the special use valuation. Allows the like kind exchange of property without loss of special use valuation eligibility. Allows valuation based on net crop share rentals as an alternative method of valuing farms. Repeals the requirement that an heir elect special treatment for involuntary conversions of qualified real property, thus making such treatment automatic upon such conversion. States that gifts made within three years of a decedent's death shall be valued as of the time of transfer rather than as of the date of death. Authorizes an individual to elect to pay a gift tax rather than use the unified tax credit. Modifies the alternate extension of time for payment of the estate tax where the estate consists largely of an interest in a closely held business to: (1) allow an installment payment election if the value of the interest in the closely held business is either 35 percent of the value of the gross estate or 50 percent of the taxable estate; (2) increase to 50 percent the value of an interest disposed of which will accelerate the payment of tax; and (3) permit payment, but with a penalty, of an installment within six months after the due date. Allows a disclaimer of an interest in property for estate tax purposes in specified circumstances where such disclaimer does not result in the passing of the interest concerned under the applicable State law.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Establishes a Joint Select Committee on Defense Readiness and Mobilization Capability to investigate and report on defense readiness and mobilization capability, including an analysis of: (1) the kind and extent of threats to the national defense; and (2) the quality and quantity of manpower, material, transportation, budgetary, and programmatic resources needed at present and able to be mobilized in the future. Sets forth the requirements for appointment to the joint select committee.
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 · 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.
![Official portrait of Rep. Erlenborn, John N. [R-IL-13]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/e000204_200.jpg)