United States · United States Congress · 13 January 1981
Grants immigrant visas to certain Italian nationals and their dependents who were victims of earthquakes which occurred in Italy on or about November 23, 1980. States that such visa shall not be chargeable against the numerical limitations imposed under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include displaced homemakers as a targeted group for whom the new employee credit is available. Defines "displaced homemaker" as an individual who: (1) has not worked in the labor force for a substantial number of years but has provided unpaid services in the home for family members; (2) has been dependent on public assistance or the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income; and (3) is unemployed or underemployed and has encountered difficulty in obtaining suitable employment.
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.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Veterans' Administration Adjudication Procedure and Judicial Review Act - Title I: Adjudication Procedures - Codifies, for Veterans' Administration (VA) adjudication purposes, the burden of proof and reasonable doubt standard currently provided for by VA regulation. States that a claimant has the burden of submitting sufficient evidence to justify his or her claim, and that if an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence exists regarding the merits of a claim, the VA is to resolve such doubt in favor of the claimant. Stipulates that VA subpoenas may be served either by personal delivery or by registered or certified mail. Increases the size of the Board of Veterans' Appeals from 50 to 65 members. Requires the chairman of such Board to submit an annual report to the appropriate congressional committees concerning the Board's current handling of cases and projections for the subsequent fiscal year. Requires the Board to: (1) provide notice to a claimant and an opportunity for a hearing before a decision may be based on "additional official information" received after a Board decision has previously been made; (2) provide the claimant with an opportunity for a hearing; and (3) make its decision exclusively on evidence and material of record in the proceeding. Removes the requirement that new material sufficient to allow the Board to reopen a previously disallowed claim be in the form of official reports. Provides that the Board's discretionary authority to reopen a claim will not be diminished by a judicial decision following an appeal as provided for by this Act. Requires the Board to mail to the claimant notice of its decision and the reasons for such decision. Provides that, upon the request of a claimant, the Board shall provide an independent advisory medical opinion when there exists substantial medical disagreements with respect to a material issue in a veterans' appeal. Sets forth new procedural rules for adjudication hearings regarding: (1) oaths, affirmations, and witness examination; (2) admissibility of evidence; (3) procedural rights of claimants; (4) disqualification of a hearing officer; (5) the record of the proceedings and the claimants' right to examine and obtain a copy of such record; and (6) the exclusiveness of veterans' adjudication procedures and rights prescribed by the Administrator. Requires the Administrator to provide at each stage of the appeal proceedings written notice to a claimant of procedural rights and procedures. Directs the Administrator to conduct a study of two alternate claims resolution methods, one a new intermediate-level adjudication process, the other an enhanced schedule of formal Appeals Board hearings. Title II: Veterans' Administration Rule Making - Includes the VA's rulemaking procedures under the relevant provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. Title III: Judicial Review - Provides for judicial review of VA decisions in the Federal court system. States, with regard to jurisdiction: (1) that judicial review of a final decision in a claim for benefits may be obtained in a civil action brought within 180 days of the Board's mailing of notice of its decision, and that such action shall be brought in Federal district court; (2) that in cases not directly involving a claim for benefits a civil action otherwise authorized by law shall not be precluded; (3) the definition of final decision; (4) that the judicial review procedures established under this Act shall not apply to insurance and home loans; (5) that the VA shall file the various materials constituting the record in a case together with its answer to the claimant's complaint; and (6) that the court render a decision on the pleadings. States, with regard to the reviewing court's scope of review, that such court: (1) decide questions of law and interpret constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions, but that questions of fact (unless unsupported by substantial evidence) will not be subject to a trial de novo; and (2) in reviewing a final decision of the VA which is adverse to a party solely because such party failed to comply with VA procedures, such court may only review questions concerning such procedures. Sets out provisions regarding remand, survival of actions, and appellate review. Title IV: Attorneys' Fees - Authorizes the Administrator to allow attorneys' fees above the present $10 maximum if the appealing party's claim is allowed by the VA after an initial denial. States that such fee shall be the lesser of: (1) the fee agreed upon by the party and attorney; (2) $500, unless the Administrator approves a greater amount; or (3) if the party and attorney have entered into a contingent-fee agreement, not more than 25 percent of the total of any past-due benefits' awarded on the basis of such party's claim. Provides for the approval of attorneys' fees, in successful veterans' claims brought before a court, as provided for under this Act. Stipulates that such fees shall be determined by such court, and in contingent-fee agreements such fees shall not exceed 25 percent of the total of any past-due benefits awarded on the basis of such claim. Authorizes attorneys' fees of up to $750 in certain unsuccessful veterans' claims. Prohibits the VA from authorizing payment to a claimant's attorney based on past-due benefits unless such benefits are owed as of the date of the VA's or a court's award. Establishes procedures for the review of the VA's or a court's approval of attorneys' fees. States that in the case of a benefits claim resolved before the VA, either the claimant or the attorney may challenge the award in the Federal district court in which the claimant resides or has his principal place of business within 30 days after notice of the attorneys' award. Provides that all parties be given notice. Stipulates that such provisions regarding attorneys' fees shall only apply to claims for benefits under the laws administered by the VA and shall not apply in cases in which the VA is the plaintiff or in which other attorneys' fees statutes are otherwise controlling. Title V: Effective Dates - States that this Act shall become effective 180 days after enactment. Permits review of Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions rendered on or after January 1, 1977, and prior to the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Research Modernization Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish within the National Institutes of Health a National Center for Alternative Research to develop and coordinate alternative methods of research and testing which do not involve the use of live animals. States that the Center shall be managed by a Director appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and that the head of any Federal agency which conducts or sponsors research or testing involving the use of live animals appoint one employee to serve as a member of the Center. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Center an Advisory Committee to advise the Center. Requires the Secretary to make and publish in the Federal Register descriptions of alternative methods of testing which meet the regulatory scientific needs of the agencies and which have been reported in summary or plan. Prohibits the use of Federal funds to sponsor research or testing involving the use of live animals if alternative methods have been published in the Federal Register or if such work duplicates work performed by another agency. Requires each agency conducting research involving the use of live animals to: (1) implement a program to develop and utilize alternative methods of research and testing that would reduce or eliminate reliance on the use of live animals; and (2) make grants and enter into contracts with educational institutions to establish courses for the training of scientists in methods of research and testing which do not involve the use of live animals. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress annually a summary of the Director's annual report of the performance of the Center.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Campuses for the Elderly Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to: (1) solicit and review plans for the development of campus-style residential and health care projects for the elderly; and (2) make interest subsidy payments to developers of such projects. Authorizes appropriations necessary to make such interest subsidy payments. Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Secretary to insure and to make commitments to insure mortgages on properties being developed under this Act. Requires a report to the Congress evaluating projects developed under this Act by a committee of Congressional members, representatives of the medical profession, and administrators of health-care facilities. Authorizes appropriations for such committee.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to delete the tariff provisions: (1) for U.S. products assembled abroad; and (2) for U.S. metals exported for additional processing and returned for further processing.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the manufacture, importation, installation, offer to sell, rent, or lease, or other distribution of telephone receivers or similar equipment manufactured after the date of enactment of this Act for use in connection with any interstate or foreign communication, unless such receiver or equipment is designed and manufactured to permit telephone reception by means of hearing aids with inductive receptors. Establishes fines for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit taxpayers who do not itemize income tax deductions to claim a deduction from gross income for charitable contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Declares it the public policy of the United States to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and use of leg-hold and steel-jaw traps in the United States and abroad. Prohibits the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of fur or leather products from animals trapped in a State or foreign country which has not banned such traps. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to publish a list of States and foreign countries which have not banned such traps. Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Tuition Tax Credit Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer an income tax credit for 25 percent of the tuition paid for the elementary, secondary, college, or post-secondary vocational education of the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse or dependents. Sets forth maximum dollar amounts allowable as a credit for calendar years 1981 through 1983, after which the credit expires. Requires the individual for whom the tuition tax credit is allowed by this Act to be a full-time student during any four months of the calendar year or a part-time student during any eight months of the calendar year. Excludes graduate students from eligibility for such credit. Excludes from the definition of "tuition" any amounts paid for books, supplies, equipment for coursework, meals, lodging, transportation, similar personal expenses, and education below the first-grade level. Forbids any construction of this Act as granting the Government additional authority to examine the books or activities of any church school except to the extent necessary to determine whether such school is an eligible educational institution within the meaning of this Act. Provides for the immediate certification of any judicial action brought in a United States district court concerning the constitutionality of this Act to the appropriate circuit court of appeals. Authorizes direct appeal to the Supreme Court of any such decision by a circuit court. Requires the expedited consideration of such a case at both judicial levels. Requires that any amount received by the taxpayer as a tuition tax credit be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility of the taxpayer for Federal, State, or local educational assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Sunset Review Act of 1981 - Requires the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to jointly develop and maintain an inventory of all Federal programs and tax expenditures. Requires such inventory to classify all such programs and expenditures according to the jurisdiction of the various legislative committees of the two Houses. Requires the General Accounting Office (GAO), before the beginning of the 98th Congress, after consultation with the appropriate legislative committees and the Congressional Budget Office, to submit a draft inventory to the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Requires such Committees to notify each legislative committee of the programs and tax expenditures which are classified within its jurisdiction. Allows any legislative committee to propose revisions of such inventory within 30 days after notification. Requires that such inventory be published in a single document. Requires that an update be made of such inventory at the beginning of every Congress. Specifies information to be contained in such an inventory. Directs the GAO to publish a supplement to such inventory which includes certain budget information. Requires each legislative committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate, by a specified date, to report a resolution setting forth an agenda for the sunset review of selected Federal programs within its jurisdiction, or, in the case of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance, of selected tax expenditures. Directs the committees of each House to develop their sunset review agenda in consultation with any other committee which has concurrent jurisdiction over any programs or tax expenditures involved. Requires, where practicable, that related programs and expenditures be reviewed during the same Congress. Requires the report accompanying any agenda reported in the 104th Congress and every fifth Congress thereafter to summarize the programs and expenditures reviewed and not reviewed during the five previous Congresses. Prohibits either the House or the Senate from considering a primary expense resolution for any legislative committee in any Congress until that committee has developed and submitted its sunset review agenda. Requires the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to incorporate such agendas into a consolidated sunset review agenda and to report such consolidated agenda to its House in the form of a concurrent resolution, within seven legislative days after all committee sunset review agendas have been submitted. Requires the consolidated sunset review agenda to be adopted in the House and in the Senate no later than March 30 in the first session of each Congress. Sets forth the procedures for the consideration and adoption of such agenda. Requires each committee of the House or the Senate, not later than May 15 in the second session of each Congress, to report a bill or bills modifying, continuing, or terminating each program or tax expenditure which it has been directed to review under the consolidated sunset review agenda adopted during the first session. Requires such bill to be accompanied by a report. Requires each department, agency, and instrumentality in the executive branch of the Government which is responsible for the administration of a Federal program or tax expenditure selected for sunset review to provide the appropriate Congressional committees with its views, information, and assistance. Directs the Comptroller General to supply specified information on audits. Exempts foreign intelligence or counterintelligence programs designated by the President as requiring protection from unauthorized disclosure. Directs the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate to review such programs pursuant to the spirit of this Act. Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to include the consolidated sunset review agendas and the Congressional inventory of Federal programs as part of the House Committee on Rules' functions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes the Sunday after the first Monday in November in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1988 as the day for election of Representatives and Delegates to the Congress. Requires electors of the President and Vice President for 1984 and 1988 to be appointed on the Sunday after the first Monday in November. Specifies the hours during which polling places shall be opened for such presidential elections. Requires the Federal Election Commission to report to Congress and the President on the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Humane Methods of Research Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to public and nonprofit entities: (1) to support research and development of alternative methods of research, experimentation, and testing which minimize the use of, and the pain inflicted upon, live animals; and (2) to establish the validity and reliability of such alternative methods. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Mass Transit Crime Prevention Act of 1981 - Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 to condition Federal financial assistance after September 30, 1981, for the construction or operation of facilities and equipment for use in a public mass transportation system upon the submission, approval, and implementation of an effective plan for crime prevention for such system. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe minimum standards for the approval of such plans.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Nondiscrimination in Insurance Act - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the consideration of applications for, or the granting of, insurance policies and the terms of such policies. Permits insurers who regularly provide insurance solely to persons of a single religious affiliation to continue to do so. Grants to State or local governments having insurance discrimination laws the primary opportunity to enforce this Act. Permits an aggrieved person to file a civil action in State or Federal court against an insurer, if a State or local authority which has received notice of a complaint fails to act within 60 days or with respect to those authorities not having insurance discrimination laws. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in district court when there is reasonable cause to believe that a person or group is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the rights granted by this Act and that such denial raises an issue of general public importance.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Handgun Control Act of 1981 - Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful for any person to import, manufacture, sell, buy, transfer, receive, transport, own, or possess any handgun or handgun ammunition. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to exempt from this prohibition handguns: (1) required for the operation of licensed pistol clubs; (2) utilized by Federal, State, and local agencies or by licensed security guard services; or (3) manufactured before 1890 and which are unserviceable and intended for use as collector's items. Specifies procedures for the licensing of pistol clubs, including conditions for approval of applications by the Secretary of the Treasury and administrative and judicial review of a license denial or revocation. Sets forth requirements for the operation of licensed pistol clubs, including record keeping of the receipt, sale, or other disposition of handguns. Imposes criminal penalties on persons violating the provisions of this Act, including those persons making misrepresentations in required records or license applications. Subjects to seizure and forfeiture any handgun used, or intended to be used, in violation of this Act or any other Federal criminal law. Establishes procedures for the reimbursement of persons voluntarily delivering handguns to a law enforcement agency.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 to revise and increase the mandatory penalties for using or carrying a firearm during commission of a Federal felony. Defines such offense as using a firearm to commit a felony over which the district courts have exclusive jurisdiction or carrying a firearm during such a felony involving violence. Deletes the requirement that the firearm be carried "illegally." Increases the additional penalty imposed for such offense from one to ten years' imprisonment to five to ten years' imprisonment for a first offender and from two to 25 years to ten years to life imprisonment for a second or subsequent offender. Extends to first offenders the directions, currently applicable only to second offenders, that the court not suspend any sentence or grant probation and that the additional sentence not run concurrently with any term of imprisonment imposed for the offense itself. Makes a first offender ineligible for parole for five years and a second or subsequent offender ineligible for ten years. Expresses the sense of Congress that the executive prosecute vigorously such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Equal Pay Reform Act of 1981 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to disallow the economic profitability to the employer of goods worked on in a job as a factor to justify wage differentials based on the sex of the employee holding such job.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Obstetric Care Information Act - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health) of the Social Security Act to require a State plan under such title to insure that a pregnant woman: (1) has the opportunity, upon her request, to inspect, copy, and have explained any medical records relating to her condition or treatment; (2) is informed, beforehand, of the side effects, risks, contraindications, and effectiveness of the procedures, drugs or devices, and of alternative methods of treatment; and (3) consents to treatment. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish guidelines with respect to the explanation of the side effects, risks, contraindications, and effectiveness of drugs and devices intended for use by pregnant women. Deems misbranded any drug or device offered for sale to a woman for use during pregnancy or parturition which does not meet such guidelines. Directs the Secretary to arrange for a study to determine the long-term side effects, risks, contraindications, and effectiveness of the use of obstetrical drugs, devices, and procedures with respect to maternal health and child development and to report to Congress concerning such study. Authorizes appropriations for such study.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to require that any lease or rental agreement entered into or renewed by a person aged 62 or over with respect to a dwelling unit assisted by a Federal housing program shall contain provisions entitling such person to terminate, without penalty, the lease or rental agreement if such person or his or her spouse dies or incurs any mental or physical disability during the period of the lease or rental agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish, by rule, criteria to be used in determining the air navigation facilities and personnel authorized to be provided an airport under this Act. Permits variation from such criteria if required by safety conditions. Requires the Administrator to transmit a statement with respect to such rule to the Senate and the House of Representatives before prescribing any rule. Provides for veto of such proposed rule by disapproval by either House of Congress within 60 days. Declares any motion to consider a reported disapproval resolution highly privileged and nondebatable. Prohibits the Administrator from prescribing any rule which is disapproved. Makes this authority subject to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Sunset Act of 1981 - Title I: Reauthorization of Government Programs - Sets forth a ten-year schedule for reauthorization of all Federal programs according to budget function and subfunction as set forth in the Budget of the United States Government for fiscal year 1979. Sets forth the procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the consideration of any bill, resolution, or amendment which authorizes new budget authority. States that it is not in order for either House to consider any legislation which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for a period of more than ten years, for an indefinite period, or for any fiscal year beginning after the next reauthorization date applicable to such program. Provides that before the Congress can appropriate funds for any program, after its first reauthorization date, there must be a specific authorization in law to support the appropriation. Requires the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to schedule and conduct a sunset review of programs to be reauthorized. Requires that the report accompanying such reauthorizations contain specified information and be completed during the Congress in which the program is scheduled for reauthorization. Exempts from the requirements of this Act specified programs such as interest on Federal debts, health care services, general retirement and disability payments, as well as litigation activities which have as their objectives the protection and implementation of civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and specified retirement pay and benefits. Allows the reauthorization schedule set forth in this Act to be changed by concurrent resolution of the two House of Congress and sets forth the procedure for such change. Requires all legislation and other matters related to changes in the dates for programs under this Act to be referred to the committee with legislative jurisdiction over any program affected by the proposal and, sequentially, to the Committee on Rules in the House Representatives and to the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate. Requires such committees to report any concurrent resolution or bill referred to it by a committee of legislative jurisdiction within 30 days, with a statement on each of its recommendations. Makes provisions for any proposed change which has been reported by a committee before June 1, 1982. Title II: Program Inventory - Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs. Declares that the purpose of such program inventory is to advise and assist Congress in carrying out reauthorization and reexamination requirements and to link such reauthorization and review process with the budget process. Requires the Comptroller General to submit such program inventory to each House of Congress no later than January 1, 1982. Sets forth the contents of the inventory program, including the type of authorization provided for such programs' new budget authority and the manner in which related program areas may be grouped for evaluation and review. Permits the Congressional committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service to review the program inventory and to suggest revisions. Requires that the program inventory be revised at the end of each session of Congress, and that such revisions be reported to each House. Requires that periodic reports tabulate the progress of Congressional action on bills and resolutions authorizing budget authority for programs in the inventory. Requires the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to submit periodic reports to the Congress on the adequacy of the functional and subfunctional categories for grouping programs of like missions or objectives. Title III: Program Reexamination - Requires each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reexamine selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures for such review, and criteria for selection of program areas for evaluation. Directs each committee to consult with the appropriate committees of either the House of Representatives or the Senate in order to achieve coordination of program reevaluation. Directs each Committee to inform itself of the related activities of or available assistance from the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Office of Technology Assessment, and other appropriate instrumentalities in the executive and judicial branches. Requires each committee to deliver a report on the reexamination to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House at the date specified in the funding resolution first reported by such committee in 1983 and thereafter for the first session of each Congress. Allows two or more committees which have legislative jurisdiction over the same programs or portions of the same programs to examine such programs jointly and submit a joint report. Stipulates that such report: (1) contain the findings, recommendations, and justifications of the program; and (2) include specified information including, but not limited to, an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the program and an identification of any trends, developments, and emerging conditions which are likely to affect the nature and extent of the problems or needs which the program is intended to address. Requires each executive department or agency which is responsible for a program selected for reexamination to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget and to the appropriate committees of the Congress on its findings, recommendations, and justifications of specified aspects of the program. Title IV: Tax Expenditures - Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, after consultation with the Joint Committee on Taxation of the Congress, to prepare an inventory of tax expenditure provisions and to submit a report on such inventory to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House and the Senate Finance Committee. Defines the term "tax expenditure provision" as any provision of Federal law which allows a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction in determining liability for any tax or which provides a special credit against any tax, a preferential rate of tax, or a deferral of tax liability. Specifies the contents of the report, which include an estimate of the revenue loss from each tax provision. Requires the Director to: (1) submit a revised inventory to each House of Congress by December 1, 1982; (2) revise the inventory after the close of each session of Congress and report such revisions to Congress; and (3) periodically report on Congressional action on bills and resolutions which create or affect tax provisions. Directs the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance to prepare a reauthorization schedule for all tax provisions similar to the schedule set out for Federal programs in title I of this Act. Requires Congress to take final action on the reauthorization schedule for tax provisions before the end of the 97th Congress. Provides that each tax expenditure provision shall expire unless it is reauthorized by a law enacted during the Congress in which it is scheduled for review. Sets forth procedures and restrictions for the consideration of bills reauthorizing tax provisions, which are similar to the restrictions and procedures governing bills authorizing new budget authority for Federal programs as described in title I. Requires that the report accompanying a reauthorization bill include specified information. Permits Congress to prescribe technical rules necessary to mitigate adverse effects which might result for taxpayers who rely on a certain tax provision. Title V: Miscellaneous - Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to permit the committees of Congress to obtain from the agencies of the Government estimates or requests for appropriations, or requests for increases in an item of any such estimate or request, and recommendations as to how the revenue needs of the Government should be met. Sets forth administrative procedures and requirements. Directs the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, to submit to the Congress a "Regulatory Duplication and Conflicts Report" for all programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress. Requires that each such report identify duplicative or conflicting rules and regulations promulgated by executive departments, independent agencies, and State and local governments and contain recommendations which address such conflicts or duplications. Directs the chairmen of the House and Senate committees having jurisdiction over a program scheduled for reauthorization during a Congress, to introduce a bill constituting a reauthorization within 15 days of the beginning of the second session of that Congress. Declares that it shall be in order to discharge a committee from consideration of such a bill if the committee fails to report the bill by a specified date. Makes it the duty of the Committees on Governmental Affairs and on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committees on Government Operations and Rules of the House of Representatives to review the operation of the procedures established by this Act and to submit a report every five years beginning December 31, 1988. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes a Commission on More Effective Government to study and recommend ways of promoting economy, efficiency, and improved service within the Executive branch of Government. Directs the Commission to recommend methods to improve the relationship between Federal, State, and local governments. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress ten days after the Ninety-eighth Congress convenes. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such date. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes in the House of Representatives a Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control to review problems of narcotics abuse, including enforcement, international trafficking, organized crime, and the criminal justice system with respect to narcotics law violations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that the producers and distributors of motion pictures and television and radio programs should cease the production and distribution of films and programs which defame, stereotype, ridicule, demean, or degrade ethnic, racial, or religious groups. Calls upon the motion picture and broadcasting industries to establish adequate standards for the production of films which portray such groups. States that if the industries do not respond, the Congress shall formulate measures to establish and implement such standards.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 1980
Grants immigrant visas to certain Italian nationals and their dependents who were victims of earthquakes which occurred in Italy on or about November 23, 1980. States that such visa shall not be chargeable against the numerical limitations imposed under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1980
Designates the New York Bulk and Foreign Mail Center at Jersey City, New Jersey, as the "Michael McDermott Bulk and Foreign Mail Center" in memory of the postal employee who lost his life in an industrial accident at the Center.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1980
Expresses the sense of the Congress that each department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States that utilizes the Draize rabbit eye irritancy test should develop and validate alternative testing procedures that do not require the use of animal test subjects.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Postal Service should not increase the number of digits of the zip code until: (1) the Service and the Congress have fully examined the costs, social consequences, and technical issues associated with such action; and (2) the Service has fully examined other means of improving productivity in the sorting of mail.
United States · United States Congress · 27 August 1980
Requires the Secretary of Commerce to adjust the population figures obtained in the decennial census by employing the best available methodology to correct for undercounting. Directs the Secretary, to the extent feasible, to authorize the use of the statistical method of sampling to determine the population for purposes of apportionment of Representatives in Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 1980
Establishes the Sunday after the first Monday in November in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1988 as the day for election of Representatives and Delegates to the Congress. Requires electors of the President and Vice President for 1984 and 1988 to be appointed on the Sunday after the first Monday in November. Specifies the hours during which polling places shall be opened for such presidential elections. Requires the Federal Election Commission to report to Congress and the President on the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 1980
Expresses the sense of the Congress that persons from Eastern European countries wishing to enter the United States because of oppression in their countries should be admitted into the United States to the same extent as other refugees.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1980
Small Business Participating Debentures Act of 1980 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to apply long-term capital gains treatment to amounts actually paid to a taxpayer in respect to a small business participating debenture which constitute the distribution of a share of the earnings of the issuer. Defines "small business participating debenture" (SBPD) as a written debt instrument issued by a qualified small business which: (1) is a general obligation of such business; (2) bears interest at not less than specified by the Secretary of the Treasury; (3) has a fixed maturity; (4) grants no voting or conversion rights in the business to the purchaser; and (5) provides for the payment of a share of the issuer's total earnings. Limits "qualified small business" to one (whether or not incorporated): (1) whose equity capital does not exceed $25,000,000; (2) the face value of all of whose outstanding SBPD's does not exceed $1,000,000; and (3) which has no outstanding securities subject to regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Treats members of a controlled group of corporations as a single taxpayer. Denies capital gains treatment where the taxpayer is a "related party" to the SBPD issuing corporation. Treats losses on small business participating debentures as ordinary losses. Allows an interest expense deduction for interest and share-of-earnings payments made on such debentures.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1980
Gasohol Competition Act of 1980 - Amends the Clayton Act to prohibit the direct or indirect restriction by any person engaged in commerce on the use of credit instruments in any transaction concerning the sale, resale, or transfer of gasohol or other synthetic motor fuel of equivalent usability where there is no similar restriction on transactions concerning conventional motor fuel. Allows such person to impose a credit fee for such sale or transfer, provided such fee does not exceed the actual costs of extending the credit. Prohibits any other condition, restriction, agreement, or understanding which otherwise discriminates against or unreasonably limits the sale, resale, or transfer of gasohol or other synthetic motor fuel of equivalent usability. Provides that nothing in this Act: (1) precludes such person from requiring labeling of pumps dispensing gasohol or synthetic fuel to indicate that such fuels are not manufactured, distributed, or sold by such person; (2) precludes such person from issuing disclaimers of product liability for damage resulting from the use of such fuels; (3) requires such person to provide advertising for such fuels; or (4) requires such person to furnish additional pumps or facilities for the sale of such fuels.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1980
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits for the Aged and the Disabled) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to make such benefits available for health services and medical supplies furnished by hospices to individuals who: (1) are determined by a physician to be terminally ill and to have less than six months to live; and (2) are U.S. citizens or legal aliens who have resided in the United States for the preceding five years.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1980
Short-Time Unemployment Compensation Act of 1980 - Declares the purpose of this Act to be to encourage States to provide unemployment benefits to individuals whose workweek is reduced pursuant to an employer plan under which such reductions are made in lieu of total layoffs. Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop legislation which may be used by States as a model in developing and enacting short-time compensation programs. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make grants, and provide technical assistance, to States to assist in developing, enacting, and implementing short-time compensation programs; and (2) require specified provisions to assure minimum uniformity, even though States are encouraged to experiment. Defines a "Short-time compensation program" as one under which: (1)individuals whose workweek has been reduced, pursuant to a qualified employer plan, by at least ten percent will be eligible for at least a pro rata portion of the unemployment benefits payable if such individual were totally unemployed; (2) such short- time compensation benefits shall be financed (a) by the usual manner of charging reserve accounts by experience rating, where employers have positive reserve accounts, or (b) by employers with negative reserve accounts being required to reimburse the trust fund quarterly; (3) eligible employees may apply for and collect short-time compensation or regular unemployment compensation benefits, as needed, but may not collect more than the maximum unemployment compensation benefit for full-time unemployment; and (4) eligible employees will not be expected to meet the availability for work or work search test requirement while collecting short-time compensation, but must be available for their normal workweek. Defines "qualified employer plan" as one under which there is a reduction in the number of hours worked by employees rather than total layoffs if: (1) such plan is approved by the State agency; (2) the employer certifies that the aggregate reduction in work hours pursuant to such plan is in lieu of total layoffs which would result in an equivalent reduction of work hours; (3) the employer continues to provide health and pension benefits to employees whose workweek is reduced under such plan at the same level provided before such reduction; and (4) the appropriate official of the union or union hall has consented to the plan and implementation is consistent with employer obligations under the National Labor Relations Act, in the case of employees represented by a union. Includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands under the term "State", for purposes of this Act. Directs the Secretary to conduct, and to pay administrative and benefit costs for, one or more controlled demonstration projects to evaluate the effectiveness of short-time compensation programs, in cooperation with the appropriate State agency. Directs the Secretary to submit two interim reports to the Congress and a final report to the Congress and the President on the implementation of this Act, with an evaluation of such programs and recommendations. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1981 through 1983, in limited amounts, to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1980
Extends the congratulations of the Congress to the Order of the Sons of Italy in America for their 75th anniversary. Proclaims Sunday, June 22, 1980, as "National Italian-American Day."
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1980
Extends the congratulations of the House of Representatives to members of the 1980 handicapped Olympic team and recognizes specified organizations for their efforts in producing the second winter Olympics for the physically handicapped.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1980
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the entitlement of a disabled widow or widower under the age of 60 shall not be less than 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the deceased spouse.
![Official portrait of Rep. Ferraro, Geraldine A. [D-NY-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/2bc0c052b60ebd8ceb3cefa33c69e599_200.jpg)