United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1985
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to permit public employees engaged in law enforcement and fire protection activities to take compensatory time off in lieu of receiving overtime compensation. Sets forth conditions under which such arrangement is permissible. Requires that such compensatory time off equal one and one-half hours for each hour the employee is employed in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1985
Child Care Opportunities for Families Act - Title I: Increasing the Supply of Child Care - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to increase the amount of appropriations authorized for FY 1985 through 1988 and succeeding fiscal years for title XX allotments to States. Reserves specified amounts from such title XX funds for FY 1986 through 1988 and succeeding fiscal years for use only for the provision of qualified child day care services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allot such reserved funds in the same proportions as regular title XX allotments. Defines qualified child day care services, for such purposes, as child day care services which are provided to: (1) children who are abused or neglected children, or at risk of being abused or neglected, or in families receiving child protective services; (2) children of eligible families who are recipients of aid to families with dependent children (AFDC); and (3) children (handicapped or nonhandicapped) of low-income parents (including legal guardians or primary caretakers) who are adolescents, or working, or enrolled in education or training programs, or seeking employment. Provides that such child day care services funds shall be: (1) only supplementary to funds from other sources (including other title XX funds); (2) separately accounted for in reports and audits; and (3) not transferable for purposes of other Federal block grant programs. Requires States, as a condition of eligibility for title XX block grants, to provide a State share of the total expenditures made by the State during any fiscal year (in cash or kind) for the provision of services directed at the goals set forth under title XX. Sets such State share to be provided from non-Federal public or private sources, at 25 percent of such total expenditures. Establishes a school-based early childhood education and child care services pilot program. Directs the Secretary of Education to make grants to States to assist local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish and expand such education and services for children aged four and five. Permits such pilot program funds to be used to: (1) extend half-day kindergarten to a full school day or typical working day to meet the needs of working parents; (2) contract with community-based child care organizations to provide part-day child day care to complement existing half-day or full school day school-based kindergarten or early childhood education programs; and (3) establish, or contract with community-based child care organizations to provide, pre-kindergarten or early childhood education programs and child day care services for children four years of age for a typical working day. Sets forth provisions for State applications for such pilot program grants, including requirements for: (1) State and LEA advisory panels; (2) encouragement of participation of severely handicapped children; and (3) priority consideration to programs serving substantial proportions of children from low-income families. Directs the Secretary of Education, in considering such applications to: (1) give preference to applicants whose programs provide services for the typical working day; and (2) ensure an equitable distribution of grants among States. Sets forth requirements for such pilot programs, including parent involvement, sliding scale fee scales, and no fees charged to families with incomes less than 150 percent of the poverty level. Sets forth matching requirements for such pilot programs. Limits the Federal share to 75 percent in the first year of assistance, 60 percent in the second year, and 40 percent in the third and any subsequent year. Limits administrative costs to five percent of the grant to the State or five percent of assistance to any LEA. Requires that at least ten percent of the total enrollment opportunities in each LEA in such pilot programs shall be available for handicapped children, with services to meet their special needs. Sets forth requirements for reports on, and evaluation of, such pilot programs. Defines community-based child care organization, for purposes of such pilot program provisions, as a private organization which is representative of the community and which has experience in providing child care services to low-income families. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 for such pilot program of school-based early childhood education and child care services. Title II: Upgrading State Child Care Standards - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to add a further increase (above that already provided under title I of this Act) in the amount of appropriations authorized for Fy 1986 through 1988 and succeeding fiscal years for title XX allotments to States. Reserves specified amounts from such title XX funds for FY 1986 through 1988 and succeeding fiscal years for incentive grants to States for improvements in their child care licensing, regulatory, and monitoring systems. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to initially allot such reserved funds in the same proportions as regular title XX allotments. Requires that any remaining part of such reserved funds be used for making further grants to States which require additional assistance to carry out their State plans for such purpose. Requires that, for years after FY 1986, priority be given in distributing such additional funds to those States which have developed plans that will lead to their meeting or exceeding the recommended standards established by the National Advisory Committee on Child Care Standards pursuant to this Act. Requires the Governor of each State, as a condition of the State's eligibility for receiving title XX Federal payments, to establish or designate a State Advisory Committee on Child Care Standards which shall: (1) examine, investigate, and study the State's laws, regulations, and procedures for licensing, regulating, and monitoring child care services and programs within the State; and (2) prepare a report outlining the committee's findings and recommendations, including a description of the current status of child care licensing, regulating, or monitoring within the State to be submitted to each State's Governor for transmittal, along with the Governor's comments, to the Secretary of HHS. Establishes a National Advisory Committee on Child Care Standards in order to assist and provide guidance to the States in improving the quality of child care services. Requires each State Advisory Committee and the National Advisory Committee to review the options for child care standards published by the Department of HHS in January 1985 and the final 1980 HEW Day Care Regulations. Directs the National Advisory Committee to issue recommended standards for child care programs, after first publishing proposed standards and receiving comments. Terminates the National Advisory Committee 90 days after the publication of the final recommended standards. Directs the Secretary of HHS, from the title XX funds reserved and allotted to the States for such purpose, to make incentive grants to assist States in carrying out their plans to correct deficiences in, or otherwise improving, the licensing, regulating, and monitoring of their child care programs. Requires that State applications for such grants include such plans. Requires a detailed explanation if the State plan omits carrying out any recommendation contained in the State advisory committee's report. Title III: Expanding Private Sector Initiatives - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration program of grants to local private nonprofit organizations to improve and expand child care services in the community by establishing and administering community funds for child care, in partnership with private for-profit businesses. Requires that such grants be used to provide: (1) child care scholarships on a sliding fee scale for low-income families through vouchers or by purchasing slots in child care programs; (2) partial scholarships of such sort to families ineligible for child care under title XX of the Social Security Act and whose income does not exceed $30,000; and (3) loans and grants to local nonprofit organizations (especially those serving significant proportions of low-income children) for start-up or renovation costs for community child day care services. Sets the maximum Federal share of the cost of expenditures from such community funds at 50 percent in the first year of Federal assistance, 40 percent in the second year, and 25 percent in the third and any subsequent year. Sets forth grant application requirements, including: (1) establishment of local advisory boards; and (2) obtaining of at least half of the local share of such community funds from for-profit private businesses. Directs the Secretary of HHS, in considering such applications, to: (1) ensure an equitable distribution of assistance among States and among urban and rural areas; and (2) give preference to organizations that have received such assistance in the previous year. Sets forth requirements for annual reports, evaluations, and audits of such community child care funds. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 for such community child care funds program. Title IV: Training Child Care Personnel - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to add a further increase (above that already provided under titles I and II of this Act) in the amount of appropriations authorized for FY 1986 through 1988 and succeeding fiscal years for title XX allotments to States. Reserves specified amounts from such title XX funds for FY 1986 through 1988 and succeeding fiscal years for use by States in providing child care personnel training and retraining (including training in child development and in prevention of child abuse in day care settings). Provides that such training may be given to: (1) providers of licensed or registered child care services; (2) operators and staffs of facilities where such services are provided; (3) State licensing and enforcement officials; and (4) parents. Gives priority in such training to infant care providers, family day care providers, and providers of care for children with handicapping conditions. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to initially allot such reserved funds in the same proportions as regular title XX allotments. Requires that any remaining part of such reserved funds be used for making further payments to States on the basis of their respective needs and other factors which the Secretary of HHS considers appropriate. Establishes a program of scholarships for low-income individuals who are candidates for the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. Directs the Secretary of HHS to make grants to States to provide such scholarships. Requires that preference be given to scholarship applicants who are candidates for the CDA credential for work in: (1) a family day care setting with children who are not more than five years of age; or (2) a center-based setting with children who are not more than three years of age. Requires State grant applications to assure that: (1) each scholarship will cover all necessary costs incidental to receiving the CDA credential; and (2) the State will not expend more than five percent of the grant for administrative costs. Defines low-income individual, for such purposes, as one whose income does not exceed 185 percent of a specified poverty line. Amends title V (Teacher Corps and Teacher Training Programs) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to add a new part G, Training Personnel for Early Childhood Education. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to institutions of higher education to: (1) train personnel for careers in early childhood education and development; and (2) prepare professional personnel to provide such training. Directs the Secretary to ensure that such part G grant funds are equitably distributed by geographic region and between four-year and two-year institutions. Permits such grants to be used by the institutions: (1) to cover the cost of such courses of training or study; and (2) for scholarships to individuals who agree to be providers of early childhood education or child day care services for at least two years after completion of their academic program. Requires that such scholarships be awarded on the basis of need to full- or part-time students, with preference to be given to those preparing to work with children three years of age or younger or children with handicapping conditions. Sets forth reporting requirements for grant or contract recipients under part G. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 to carry out such HEA title V part G grants program for training personnel in early childhood education. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 to carry out such program. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to revise provisions for grants to States for planning and development of dependent care programs. Adds an authorization of appropriations for FY 1986 for allotments to States to carry out the family day care training and technical assistance grants program added by this Act. Prohibits a project under such program from duplicating any services already provided by the State or locality to be served. Permits such program funds for FY 1986 to be used for grants to eligible nonprofit community-based organizations to provide: (1) training to family day care providers and individuals involved in training such providers (including child development and infant care training); and (2) technical assistance to family day care sponsors, providers, and individuals involved in training such providers, on laws and regulations applicable to the provision of family day care services. Allows training and technical assistance relating to the provision of family day care for handicapped children to be included under such grants. Makes nonprofit community-based organizations eligible for such grants if they: (1) have experience with working with such providers; and (2) agree to give training and technical assistance to such providers serving low-income families. Defines family day care as the care of children provided outside their residences, for a fee and on a part-day basis, by an individual in that individual's residence. Title V: Child Care Services for Special Groups - Part A: Child Care Services for Low-Income Postsecondary Students - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add a new part D, Higher Education Institution-Based Child Care Program. Authorizes appropriations for such new part D program for FY 1986 through 1990. Directs the Secretary of Education to use such part D funds to make grants to institutions of higher education to provide child care services to low-income students. Sets forth grant application requirements, including provision of assurances that: (1) at least two-thirds of program participants are low-income individuals who are first-generation college students; (2) the remaining participants are either low-income individuals or first-generation college students; (3) the participants require the services to pursue a successful education beyond secondary school; (4) participants are enrolled at the grant recipient institution; and (5) the institution will provide to participants market rate vouchers for child care in licensed or registered programs or purchase slots in such programs for use by participants. Limits institutional administrative costs to five percent of the program grant. Defines low-income individual as one from a family whose taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of a specified poverty level amount. Part B: Respite Care Demonstration Grants for Families with Special Needs - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration program of grants to States to assist public and private agencies to provide in-home or out-of-home respite care for handicapped children and children with chronic or terminal illnesses. Requires that such care be provided on a sliding fee scale with hourly and daily rates. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish a demonstration program of grants to States to assist public and private agencies to provide crisis nurseries (i.e. centers providing temporary emergency services and care) for children who are abused and neglected, at high risk of abuse and neglect, or in families receiving child protective services. Requires crisis nurseries to: (1) provide such services and care without fee for a maximum of 30 days; (2) provide referral to support services. Sets forth administrative provisions for applications and awards of grants for the demonstration programs under this part. Requires States receiving such grants to submit annual funded program evaluation reports to the Secretary of HHS. Part C: Comprehensive Service Centers - Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish a program of grants to State and local health departments and nonprofit agencies to establish and operate school-located comprehensive health service centers. Requires such programs to be administered through the health resources and services administration of the Department of HHS. Requires such centers to provide, or arrange for the provision of, comprehensive health care services, child care sufficient to enable a student to continue education or enter employment, family life and parenting education, and academic and employment counseling and placement. Makes such services available to any student, but requires that priority attention be given the needs of any student who is an adolescent parent, pregnant, or a potential dropout. Requires such programs to provide or arrange provision of: (1) such services on school campuses, to the extent practicable; and (2) transportation of students to and from agencies supplying such services, and of eligible adolescent parents and their children to and from child care services. Sets forth provisions for fee schedules for such services. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of inability to provide full payment for such services. Requires grant recipients to collect reimbursement, where possible, for the Medicaid and title XX child care services programs under the Social Security Act. Limits State or local administrative costs to ten percent, and Federal administrative costs to one percent, of program funds. Sets forth grant application requirements. Directs the Secretary of HHS, in reviewing such applications, to: (1) consider the equitable geographic distribution of grants among States, and among urban and rural areas; and (2) give preference to recipients who will provide services in schools with the highest adolescent birth rate and the highest concentrations of low-income students and potential dropouts. Requires that Federal funds for such programs be supplementary to State and local funds, and that such programs provide services which are in addition to, rather than in substitution for, comparable services previously provided without Federal assistance. Sets the maximum Federal share of assistance to a center at 100 percent in the first year, 75 percent in the second year, and 50 percent in the third and any subsequent year of assistance. Sets forth annual reporting requirements for grant recipients. Directs the Secretary of HHS, after the second year of such assistance, to provide for an independent evaluation of a representative sample of such programs. Defines comprehensive health care services to include: (1) primary and preventive health services, including prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care; (2) pregnancy testing and maternity counseling; (3) nutrition counseling and referral; (4) screening and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases; (5) appropriate pediatric care; (6) pediatric services for infants born to adolescents; (7) mental health services and referral; (8) family planning services; (9) dental services and referral; and (10) such other services as the Secretary of HHS provides by regulation. Defines child care services,for purposes of this part, as services that: (1) are provided by a school-based or community-based child care organization (2) at a minimum include the provision of child care services to any child of an adolescent parent from birth through age 30 months; and (3) meet applicable State licensing standards. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 for the grants program for school-located comprehensive health service centers under this part. Part D: Child Care Expenses for AFDC Recipients - Amends Social Security Act provisions relating to aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) to allow an increased amount of child care expenses to be taken into consideration in determinations of AFDC eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1985
Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Improvement Act of 1985 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for home or community-based services provided to an individual with respect to whom there has been a determination that but for the provision of such services the individual would require the level of care provided in a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, the cost of which would be reimbursed under Medicaid. Repeals provisions which required a State to apply for and receive a waiver in order to provide such services.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that proposals to repeal provisions of the Internal Revenue Code which allow taxpayers to make designations of payments to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund should not be enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1985
Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Child Welfare Amendments of 1985 - Title I: Provisions Relating to Older Foster Children - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require a State to make foster care maintenance payments to foster care children until they reach the age of 21, if they are full-time students. Requires a State to establish, under part E, a transitional independent living program for children with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments are being made and who have attained age 16. Provides under such program for an individualized transitional independent living plan for each child, with the objective of helping the child to prepare for and to live an independent life. Title II: Adoption Program Improvements - Provides for the eligibility, under titles XIX (Medicaid) and XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Act, of any child with respect to whom an adoption assistance agreement is in effect, including any child placed for adoption, if: (1) the parents with whom the child was placed would be eligible for adoption assistance payments; or (2) the child is a child with special needs. Requires each State to provide post-adoptive counseling services, if the applicable adoption assistance agreement so specifies or if the adopting parents so request, to children with respect to whom adoption assistance agreements are in effect, with the objective of helping both the adopted child and adopting parents adjust. Title III: Training Requirements - Requires a State's part E plan to: (1) provide training and retraining for individuals who are maintaining or preparing to maintain foster family homes and for members of the staffs of child-care institutions; and (2) require, as a condition of receiving licensing and as a condition of receiving foster care maintenance payments, satisfactory participation in such training and retraining by any individual who is a foster parent or is preparing to qualify as a foster parent and by the members of the staff of any child-care institution who have responsibilities with respect to foster children. Title IV: Extension of Voluntary Placement and Transfer of Funds Provisions - Makes permanent temporary provisions of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 which provide for Federal payments for certain dependent children voluntarily placed in foster care. Extends for three years provisions which permit a State to transfer certain part E funds to part B (Child Welfare) of title IV. Title V: Administrative and Eligibility Provisions - Requires redeterminations of a child's eligibility for foster care maintenance payments under part E only when there has been a change affecting such eligibility. Sets forth reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Home Respiratory Care Act of 1985 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for respiratory care furnished as part of extended care services and as part of home health services for an individual who is medically dependent on a ventilator for life support for at least six hours a day and who meets certain other requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Plan Termination and Reversion Control Act of 1985 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to revise provisions relating to terminations of single-employer plans and reversions to employers resulting from such terminations. Prohibits mergers and consolidations of pension plans and transfers of plan assets or liabilities if any act or failure to act in accomplishing the merger, consolidation, or transfer violates the fiduciary duty of the employer under specified provisions (which provide that the assets of a plan shall never inure to the benefit of any employer and shall be held for the exclusive purposes of providing benefits to plan participants and their beneficiaries and defraying reasonable administrative expenses of the plan). Sets forth provisions for fiduciary responsibility: (1) for meeting specified requirements relating to distribution of residual assets upon termination of a single-employer plan; and (2) in connection with related plans following single-employer plan terminations. Makes it unlawful for any individual who is a party in interest, as described under specified provisions, in connection with a single-employer plan to exert undue influence on or cause a material misrepresentation to a plan fiduciary, with the intent to initiate or facilitate a plan termination in order to entrench or otherwise protect the status of such individual. Authorizes the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the Corporation) to assess a civil penalty against any person who commits such a violation. Limits the maximum amount of such penalty to five percent of the amount of any distribution from the plan to the employer pursuant to specified provisions. Makes such person also personally liable to make good to any aggrieved participant or beneficiary their losses resulting from such violation. Makes liability for any such violation joint and several. Authorizes the Corporation to seek: (1) injunctions against any act or practice constituting such a violation; or (2) other appropriate equitable relief to redress such violations or to enforce such requirements. Places limitations on distributions of residual assets to employers after single-employer plan terminations. Provides that those residual assets of the plan which are attributable to employee contributions shall be equitably distributed to the employees who made such contributions (or their beneficiaries) in accordance with their rate of contributions, in a specified manner. Provides that the remaining residual assets be available for distribution as follows: (1) 50 percent to participants and beneficiaries as compensation for unpaid constructive cost-of-living increases; and (2) 50 percent to participants who are within five years of normal retirement age under the plan. Provides for adjustments to the amounts of residual assets distributable to participants and beneficiaries through: (1) proration of available assets; (2) reallocation of excess available assets; and (3) adjustment to ensure equitable distribution. Provides that, only after all of the above requirements for distribution of residual assets to participants and beneficiaries have been met, any remaining residual assets shall be distributed to the employer if: (1) such distribution does not contravene any applicable Federal or State law; and (2) the plan has, since its establishment, provided explicitly for such a distribution in these circumstances. Gives plans in effect on the date of enactment of this Act 60 days after such date to contain such an explicit provision. Requires such plans to notify in writing each employee or retiree who qualifies as an interested party of the proposed plan amendment incorporating such provision at least 30 days before its adoption. Sets forth a special rule for distributions to employers in cases of transfers of coverage to other plans. Requires that any other residual assets of the plan, which remain after the above requirements for distribution to participants and beneficiaries are met and which are not distributable to employers because of the above requirements, be distributed to participants and beneficiaries in a specified manner. Directs the Corporation to issue regulations for such distributions of residual assets, including provision of consideration of administrative costs to the plan. Authorizes the Corporation to waive any such requirements, individually or by class, upon its determination that such administrative costs reader the distribution impracticable. Provides for increased availability to employers of residual assets upon certification of business necessity. Provides that a plan termination is a business necessity if it meets the requirements of: (1) a special rule for certain terminations incident to the sale of a business for fair value to an unrelated party; or (2) certain distress requirements. Provides that such distress requirements are met if the plan termination meets the conditions set forth in at least one of the following categories: (1) recent funding waivers; (2) liquidation in bankruptcy proceedings; (3) inability to pay debts and continue in business; and (4) unreasonably burdensome pension costs caused by a declining workforce (but not in the case of substantial layoffs). Precludes a business necessity determination: (1) where the primary purpose is to finance corporate take-overs; or (2) in the case of recently established plans, i.e. plans which have not completed five years. Revises ERISA provisions relating to the termination of single-employer plans to require 60 days' advance written notice to the plan participants and their beneficiaries before the plan administrator files a notice with the Corporation that the plan is to be terminated on a proposed date. Revises IRC provisions relating to plan qualification to set forth a five-year disqualification rule for replacement plans where plan termination is not a business necessity. Makes exceptions to such rule for derivative or successor plans which meet certain conditions. Places various limitations on the availability, after various types of employer reversions (i.e. employer acceptance of residual assets of a terminated plan pursuant to various requirements of this Act), of: (1) funding waivers for replacement plans; and (2) extensions of amortization periods for comparable plans. Requires faster funding for replacement plans after employer reversions. Provides that an alternative minimum funding standard is not available while such plans are subject to such faster funding requirement. Revises IRC provisions (relating to excise taxes in connection with qualified pension, etc., plans) to add an excise tax on reversions to employers upon termination of single-employer plans. Requires the employer to pay such tax in the amount of ten percent of the fair market value of the residual assets so distributed to the employer. Revises ERISA requirements relating to employer securities acquired or held by plans. Provides that, by specified dates and under certain conditions, a plan may not hold: (1) any employer security which is not qualifying employer stock; or (2) any qualifying employer stock to the extent that the aggregate fair market value of employer securities held by the plan exceeds five percent (currently ten percent) of the plan's assets. Provides for regulations requiring plans to divest themselves of 50 percent of their holdings of employer securities and employer real property by a specified deadline (in order to comply with the five percent limitation). Defines "qualifying employer stock" as an employer security which: (1) is stock in the employer; (2) does not constitute, and is not acquired subject to, any bond, debenture, note, or certificate or other evidence of indebtedness; and (3) is not subject to any restriction on marketability or voting power applicable by reason of its acquisition by a plan. Directs the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries to conduct a study of the reasonable actuarial assumptions and methods, for each of the various types of pension plans, which are appropriate for use by enrolled actuaries and others under ERISA and IRC in determining the actuarial status and funding requirements of such plans. Requires the Joint Board, within two years after enactment of this Act, to: (1) complete such study and report, with recommendations, to specified congressional committees; and (2) prescribe by regulation appropriate procedures for determining, for each type of plan, such appropriate actuarial assumptions and methods; and (3) determine such actuarial assumptions and methods for each type of pension plan in accordance with such procedures and publish such assumptions and methods in the Federal Register. Authorizes the Joint Board to: (1) revise by regulation the prescribed procedures; and (2) publish revised reasonable actuarial assumptions and methods for each type of plan. Requires the termination of enrollment of enrolled actuaries if they fail to use such prescribed assumptions and methods. Set forth requirements relating to the voting rights of participants in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to which assets are transferred upon plan termination, under IRC tax qualification requirements and under ERISA transaction rules applicable irrespective of tax qualification status. Allows such transfer of assets only if: (1) the transfer is approved in advance in writing by a majority of the participants in the terminated plan; (2) the assets allocated to each participant are immediately deposited to an account under the ESOP for such participant; and (3) the voting ratio under the ESOP of each participant is not less than the participant's asset ratio under the plan. Makes the amendments made by this Act applicable (except as otherwise provided in this Act) to pension plan terminations with respect to which notices are filed with the Corporation, pursuant to specified ERISA provisions, on or after January 1, 1984. Treats any such notice filed before the date of the enactment of this Act as filed on such date for purposes of specified amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Older Workers' Pension Rights Protection Act of 1985 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code to require pension plans to allow: (1) participation by employees nearing retirement age; and (2) benefit accrual by participants to continue past normal retirement age.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Catastrophic Health Care Expenses Assistance Act of 1985 - Adds a new title to the Social Security Act, "Title XXI: Grants to States for Assistance to Individuals Incurring Catastrophic Expenses for Health Care." Authorizes appropriations to enable States to furnish medical assistance for catastrophic illness under such title. Requires a State plan to: (1) be in effect in all State political subdivisions; and (2) provide for financial participation by the State equal to not less than 40 percent of the non-Federal share of expenditures under the plan with respect to which payments are authorized, and provide for financial participation by the State equal to all of such non-Federal share or provide for distribution of funds from Federal or State sources, for carrying out the State plan, on an equalization basis which will assure that the lack of adequate funds from local sources will not result in lowering the assistance available under the Act. Requires a State plan to provide for paying: (1) at least 90 percent of all qualified expenses of an eligible individual and the eligible individual's dependents in excess of the greater of $2,500 or the sum of 30 percent of household income under $15,000, plus 40 percent of household income between $15,000 and $25,000, plus 50 percent of household income in excess of $25,000 (or such lower respective percentages of such incomes, or of such higher incomes, as the State may establish); and (2) 100 percent of all qualified nursing home expenses in excess of 20 percent (or such lower percentage as the State may establish of household income). Prohibits a State plan from charging any premium, copayments, or deductibles, except as provided in the previous sentence. Requires a plan to provide such methods and procedures relating to the use of, and the payment for, services for which assistance is available under the plan as may be necessary to safeguard against unnecessary use of such services and to assure that payments are not in excess of reasonable charges consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to pay to a State with an approved plan 75 percent of such sums as are attributable either to payments made to eligible individuals or expenses found by the Secretary to be necessary for the administration of the plan. Prohibits amounts paid to a State from exceeding the product of two dollars and the State's population. Prohibits payments to a State for expenses if: (1) the charges on which the expenses are based are not reasonable; (2) the expenses exceed the hospital's customary charges; (3) incurred for services not medically necessary; (4) the expenses are for services provided by a provider excluded from Medicare or Medicaid participation (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act); (5) the expenses are for services provided by a hospital or skilled nursing facility not having a utilization review plan meeting the requirements of title XVIII; or (6) the expenses are for services for which a private insurer would have been obligated but for a provision in its contract excluding payment because an individual is eligible under this Act. Prohibits payments to a State not in compliance with the provisions of this Act. Defines an "eligible individual" as any resident of a State who has incurred in any consecutive twelve month period: (1) qualified expenses exceeding the greater of $2,500 or 30 percent of household income up to $15,000, plus 40 percent of household income between $15,000 and $25,000, plus 50 percent of household income in excess of $25,000 (or such lower respective percentages of such incomes, or of such higher incomes, as the State may establish); or (2) qualified nursing home expenses exceeding 20 percent (or such lower percentage as the State may establish) of household income. Defines a "qualified expense" as a charge which is a covered expense and for which no third party is liable. Lists 19 "covered services" which include: hospital services, physicians' services (including routine check-ups and an annual physical), chiropractic services, prescription drugs, physical therapy, ambulance service, well baby care, certain dental care, and certain diagnostic tests. Excludes from coverage: (1) cosmetic surgery; (2) custodial care not qualifying under title XVIII; and (3) private hospital rooms. Defines "dependents," "household income," and "qualified nursing home expense." Sets forth penalties for misrepresentations, fraud, false statements, and concealments made in connection with the provision of services under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Reproductive Health Equity Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the Peace Corps Act, the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, and other Federal laws covering armed forces personnel and dependents and Federal employees' health benefits to provide that services related to abortion be made available in the same manner as are other pregnancy-related services under federally funded programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1985
Designates August 14, 1985, as Social Security Day and the week of August 11 through August 17, 1985, as Social Security Week. Authorizes and requests the President to commemorate August 14, 1985, as the 50th anniversary of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Family Economic Security Act of 1985 - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require each State to have in operation at any time and to carry out either a work incentive program under part C (Work Incentive Program) of title IV or an employment program demonstration project under part A (General Provisions) of title XI of such Act. Repeals time restriction limitations on demonstration projects. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make annual grants to each State to carry out special programs, projects, and experiments designed to reduce the dependency of AFDC individuals and families, including: (1) supported work programs for long-term adult AFDC recipients; (2) work experiments aimed at easing the transition to jobs in the private sector; and (3) other programs, projects, and experiments designed to reduce AFDC dependency. Provides that grants shall be made only on the basis of a plan submitted to the Secretary by a State and approved by the Secretary. Provides that a grant shall be in an amount ranging from two to seven percent of a State's Federal share under part A of title IV or title XI. Requires reports concerning such grants from a State to the Secretary. Permits a State to transfer up to ten percent of its grant for use in carrying out programs to prevent teenage pregnancies and to assist pregnant individuals and mothers of young children in achieving self-sufficiency. Requires a State to make monthly payments to each family with dependent children in an amount determined by subtracting, after the application of resource and disregard provisions, the family's monthly income from its monthly cash needs standard (equal to one-twelfth of the annual cash needs standard) or from its monthly payment standard (equal to one-twelfth of the annual payment standard). Requires a State to establish for any family with dependent children: (1) an annual cash needs standard; and (2) an annual payment standard specifying the amount of AFDC that the family would receive monthly under AFDC if it had no other income. Requires that, in the case of a family with no income other than AFDC (and reducing such income only by the applicable standard deduction specified by the Food Stamp Act of 1977), each of such standards when added to the total monthly allotments of food stamp coupons equal an amount that places the family at no less than a specified percentage of the poverty level. Provides that such percentage shall be 55 percent for 1986 and rise to 70 percent by 1991. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine the poverty level for each State. Provides for increases in the Federal AFDC contribution to States increasing AFDC benefits. Revises provisions relating to dependent children of unemployed parents. Requires a State to make AFDC payments with respect to dependent children in two-parent families not otherwise eligible. Authorizes a State, with respect to making such payments, to establish appropriate work requirements and related registration and training requirements. Requires State plans to provide that at least one such parent: (1) register for manpower services, training, and employment, if either parent is required to register; and (2) participate in some State job search, training, or work program. Sets forth requirements relating to the provision day care and the payment of the minimum wage. Provides that the Federal AFDC matching rate shall be 75 percent with respect to families that include one or more dependent children. Directs the Secretary to make grants to assist States and localities to establish and carry out programs to: (1) reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies in AFDC families; and (2) help pregnant individuals and mothers of young children in such families, who might otherwise become long-term AFDC recipients, to achieve self sufficiency. Requires applications to be submitted for such grants. Sets forth program objectives and requirements. Provides that a grant shall be in an amount equal to two percent of a State's Federal share under part A of title IV or title XI. Requires reports concerning such grants from a State to the Secretary. Permits a State to transfer up to ten percent of its grant for use in encouraging programs to reduce welfare dependency. Authorizes appropriations. Redefines the term "aid to families with dependent children" so as to include a pregnant woman in any case where the child would be eligible for AFDC in the month of payment if such child had been born and was living with the mother in that month. Disregards the first $100 of unearned income, including payment of benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of such Act, unemployment benefits, and child support payments. Requires a State to periodically reevaluate its AFDC needs standards. Requires a State to provide Medicaid eligibility for one year to an AFDC family following the family's removal from the State's AFDC plan. Permits a State to provide an additional year of Medicaid eligibility. Increases the amount of assets which a family may possess and still receive AFDC. Directs the Secretary to prescribe the type and allowable amounts of resources a family may own while eligible for AFDC. Prohibits including as such resources a home, burial plots, certain real property, and certain licensed vehicles. Revises AFDC earned income disregards. Excludes the first $100 and one-fourth of other earnings. Limits the monthly child care disregard to $320 for a family. Directs the Secretary to: (1) notify all recipients of and applicants for benefits under title II of the Act of the availability of the supplemental security income program (title XVI of the Social Security Act); (2) notify all recipients of and applicants for SSI or AFDC of the availability of food stamps; (3) notify unemployment compensation benefit recipients of the availability of AFDC; and (4) notify food stamp recipients of the availability of AFDC. Increases the SSI benefit. Prohibits the reduction in OASDI widow's and widower's benefits which may occur after a beneficiary attains age 80. Provides for a Federal matching rate of 30 percent for SSI State supplementary payment increases made after May 22, 1985. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) provide for an increase in the earned income credit; (2) provide for the disregard of any needs-based governmental benefit in determining support and maintenance of a household; (3) provide for the disregard of any refund of Federal income taxes made because of the earned income credit for purposes of determining eligibility for or the amount of benefits under any Federal or State program which receives Federal funds; (4) provide for cost-of-living adjustments in the earned income credit; (5) extend and increase the targeted jobs credit; (6) include food stamp recipients as members of targeted groups; and (7) provide for an increase in the zero bracket amount for heads of households for taxable years beginning after 1985. Requires a State's Medicaid plan to cover SSI recipents.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add a new title XII, University-High School Partnerships. (Redesignates the current title XII as title XIII.) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for the new title XII, to encourage partnerships between institutions of higher education and secondary schools serving low-income students in order to support programs that: (1) improve the academic skills of secondary school students; (2) increase their opportunity to continue a program of education after high school; and (3) improve their prospects of employment after high school. Requires, for purposes of eligibility for a title XII grant, an institution of higher education and a local education agency to enter into a written partnership agreement. Allows the partnership to include businesses, labor organizations, professional associations, community-based organizations, or other private or public agencies or associations. Requires all partners to sign the agreement. Requires the agreement to include a listing of all participants in the partnership, a description of their responsibilities, and a listing of the resources to be contributed by them. Directs the Secretary of Education to reserve 65 percent of title XII funds for programs operating during the regular school year and 35 percent for summer programs. Limits the amount of such a grant to between $250,000 to $1,000,000. Allows the partnership to use the grant for programs that use college students to tutor high school students and that improve high school students' basic academic skills, their understanding of specified subjects, opportunity to continue a program of education after graduation, and their prospects for employment after graduation. Directs the Secretary, in making such grants, to give preference to: (1) programs which will serve predominantly low-income communities; (2) partnerships which will run programs during the regular school year and the summer; and (3) programs which will serve educationally disadvantaged students, potential dropouts, pregnant adolescent and teen parents, or the gifted and talented. Sets forth grant application requirements. Limits the Federal share of the cost of the project to no more than 70 percent in the first year, 60 percent in the second year, and 50 percent in the third year and any subsequent year.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Even Start Act - Establishes a pilot program to combine adult basic education for parents and school readiness training for children into a single educational program. Requires that funds made available to a grant recipient under this Act be used to provide a program of adult literacy training which includes as a major component involving parents and children together to enhance the likelihood of educational achievement. Requires that each such program receiving a grant include the following elements: (1) identifying and recruiting eligible participants; (2) screening and preparing parents and children for participation (including testing, referral to necessary counseling, and related services); (3) designing programs and providing support services to suit the participants' work and other responsibilities (including child care, transportation, and scheduling and locating services to allow joint participation by parents and children); (4) establishing instruction programs that promote adult literacy, equip parents to support the education and growth of their children, and prepare children for success in regular school program; and (5) providing and monitoring integrated instructional services to participants through home-based programs. Makes eligible for participation in such programs families that: (1) include a parent eligible to participate in an adult basic education program under the Adult Education Act; and (2) reside, with a child aged four or five, in a school attendance area designated for receipt of funds under chapter 1 (Financial Assistance to Meet Special Educational Needs of Disadvantaged Children) of the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 (ECIA). Makes eligible to apply for such program grants any agency, organization, or institution that operates an adult basic education program under the Adult Education Act and that serves an area: (1) in which the unemployment rate exceeds the national average; and (2) at least 75 percent of which is comprised of school attendance areas designated for receipt of funds under chapter 1 of ECIA. Sets forth grant application requirements, including: (1) a demonstration that the applicant can coordinate programs under the Adult Education Act with program under chapter 1 of ECIA, with other related programs such as health care, nutrition, child abuse, and substance abuse control and with State and local educational agencies; (2) a statement of methods to be used to provide program services for those most in need of them and for special populations, such as the handicapped and those with limited English proficiency; and (3) a demonstration that the applicant has qualified personnel to provide staff training and preparation. Directs the Secretary of Education to select 15 to 20 applications for final review, with two-thirds of these from urban areas and one-third from rural areas. Provides that three of these applications shall be selected for receipt of funds by a review panel composed of the Secretary, and specified members of State and local directors of programs under chapter 1 of ECIA and the Adult Education Act, chief State school officers, and representatives from a local Parent-Teacher Association and from institutions of higher education with training, respectively, in early childhood education and in adult literacy training. Sets forth program agreement requirements, including: (1) participant enrollment for at least 12 months; and (2) grant recipient provision of at least 25 percent of program costs for the third year of operation, 50 percent for the fourth year, and continued program operation after the expiration of assistance under this Act, if the program has been demonstrated to be effective. Sets forth requirements for evaluation and dissemination of results of such pilot projects. Requires that the results of such evaluation be submitted by the end of FY 1992 to the national diffusion network for possible dissemination. Directs the Secretary, in order to carry out this Act, to reserve specified amounts from FY 1987 through 1991 funds which would otherwise be available for: (1) grants to States for adult basic education and adult education programs to be carried out by local educational agencies and private nonprofit agencies; and (2) evaluation and studies under chapter 1 of ECIA. Provides that such requirement shall not apply to funds appropriated before the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Permits the Archivist of the United States to make available for public use all records of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the 94th and 95th Congresses other than those voted to be kept secret or confidential. Requires the guidelines governing disclosure of such records to be those used by the General Services Administration for the records of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the imputation rate on seller-financed transactions from 120 percent to 100 percent of the Federal rate. Eliminates the separate testing rate for the determination of imputed interest. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make a determination of the Federal short-term, mid-term, and long-term rates on a monthly basis. Permits the use of a lower rate than the applicable Federal rate where such rate is based on the same principles as the applicable Federal rate and is appropriate for the term of the instrument. Provides that the rate used to test the adequacy of stated interest on the first $2,000,000 of seller financing cannot exceed nine percent. Provides that where the amount of seller financing is greater than $4,000,000, the test rate is 100 percent of the applicable Federal rate. Establishes a blended rate for sales between $2,000,000 and $4,000,000 equal to nine percent on an amount which phases out dollar-for-dollar as the amount of seller financing exceeds $2,000,000 and 100 percent of the applicable Federal rate on the excess. Provides that the $2,000,000 and $4,000,000 threshold amounts will be indexed for inflation after 1988. Allows the parties to elect to account for interest using the cash method of accounting where the transaction amount of seller-financing is not more than $2,000,000. Lengthens the recovery period for real property from 18 to 19 years.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1985
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that a specified prohibition against certification of labor organizations representing both "guards" and other employees, for collective bargaining unit purposes, is to be applied only in the case of "plant guards."
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1985
Economic Equity Act of 1985 - Title I: Retirement - Pension Vesting, Integration, and Portability Act of 1985 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise provisions relating to maximum age conditions under pension plans to provide for continued coverage for certain workers over the normal retirement age. Provides that pension plans may only exclude from participation, on the basis of age, an employee who has attained the normal retirement age under the plan if: (1) the plan is a defined benefit plan or a target benefit plan (as under current law); and (2) the employee's accrued benefit under the plan is greater than the normal retirement benefit to which the employee would be entitled at the normal retirement age if the employee commenced participation at the earliest possible entry age under the plan and served continuously until attaining the normal retirement age under the plan. Revises provisions relating to minimum vesting standards to reduce, from ten years to five years, the number of years of service which a pension plan participant must complete in order to earn a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of the participant's accrued benefit derived from employer contributions. Permits multiemployer pension plans to retain the ten-year minimum vesting standard if such plans meet certain conditions, including complete reciprocity for workers who move from one regional pension plan to another within the same industry. Repeals a certain "class year plan" rule. Permits participants with three (currently five) years of service to elect, within a specified period to have their nonforfeitable percentage computed under the plan without regard to any plan amendment changing the vesting schedule. Revises minimum participation standards, minimum vesting standards, and benefit accrual requirements to provide for pension plan coverage of part-time workers. Revises the definition of "year of service," for purposes of minimum participation and vesting standards, to treat 500 to 1,000 hours of service per year by a part-time employee as one-half of a year of service. Provides that the date on which such employee completes such one-half of one year of service shall be the latest date until which the plan participation of such employee may be delayed. Includes service of at least 500 (currently 1,000) hours in determinations of years of plan participation for purposes of benefit accrual requirements. Establishes minimum benefit rules for integrated pension plans. Requires such plans to offer a minimum benefit without taking into account contributions or benefits under specified provisions of the Social Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code, or any other Federal or State law. Sets forth formulas, based on specified percentages of employee compensation, for determining such minimum benefit in the case of: (1) an integrated defined benefit plan; and (2) an integrated defined contribution plan or an integrated simplified employee pension. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe necessary or appropriate regulations to carry out the purposes of such minimum benefit rules for integrated plans in any case in which the employer has two or more plans. Provides for distributions of accrued benefits of less than $7,000 to portable pension accounts (individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities). Requires a pension plan to distribute a participant's nonforfeitable benefit to a portable pension account if: (1) the plan is a defined benefit plan, or an individual account plan subject to specified funding standards; (2) the present value, as of the date of separation from service, of such benefit is less than $7,000; and (3) the participant elects in writing, after receiving a required notice, to have such benefit distributed to such portable pension account in a distribution which is excluded from gross income under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe by regulation the manner and form in which such election is to be made. Requires the plan administrator, upon being informed by a participant that the participant wishes to make an election pursuant to these provisions, to provide notice to the participant of: (1) the present value, as of the date of separation, of the participant's nonforfeitable benefit (with such present value to be deemed equal to the actuarial equivalent, as of such date, of the normal form of benefit under the plan); (2) the amount of the participant's benefit on the date of the participant's retirement payable under the pension plan at normal retirement age expressed in the form of a single life annuity under a defined benefit plan or in the normal form of payment under an individual account plan; and (3) the additional tax (under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions as revised by this Act) on distributions from, or disqualification, of the portable pension account before the date on which the participant attains age 59 1/2. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise provisions relating to pension plans. Makes such revisions similar to those made to ERISA by title I of this Act with respect to: (1) continued coverage for certain workers over the normal retirement age; (2) a minimum vesting standard of five years of service (reduced from ten years), with the exception of multiemployer plans meeting certain conditions (including reciprocity); (3) repeal of the class year plan rule; (4) protection from changes in the vesting schedule for participants with three years of service; (5) coverage for part-time workers under minimum participation standards, minimum vesting standards, and benefit accrual requirements; (6) establishment of minimum benefit rules for integrated plans; and (7) distributions of accrued benefits to portable pension accounts. Revises provisions relating to additional tax on certain amounts included in gross income before age 59 1/2. Requires, in cases of early distributions or disqualification involving portable pension accounts to which accrued benefits from a pension plan have been distributed as provided under this Act, that the additional tax (for the taxable year in which the early distribution is received or the disqualification occurs) shall be equal to the amount of the early distribution, or of the disqualification, which is includible in gross income for such taxable year. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) conduct a study of the feasibility and ramifications of requiring private employee pension benefit plans to provide cost-of-living adjustments to benefits payable under such plans; (2) compile data and analyze the effect inflation is having and may be expected to have on retirement benefits provided under such plans; and (3) submit study results, with recommendations, within two years after enactment of this Act. Social Security Modernization Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the combined earnings of a married couple which are attributable to the period of their marriage shall be shared equally between them for purposes of determining the eligibility for and amount of OASDI benefits to which each spouse is or may become separately entitled. Credits the survivor of the marriage with 100 percent of the combined total wages for the period of the marriage. Provides that this Act shall not apply in specified cases where it would result in a reduction of OASDI benefits. Provides full benefits for disabled widows and widowers without regard to age. Enables an insured individual's spouse who has attained the age of 50 and is not entitled to any other monthly benefits to obtain a transition benefit for four months upon the death of the insured individual. Establishes the amount of such transition benefit at 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the insured individual or, if it is higher, 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the spouse. Repeals the separate definition of disability applicable to widows and widowers. Permits the months of a widow's or widower's entitlement to Supplemental Security Income benefits (title XVI of the Social Security Act) on the basis of a disability to be counted towards the 24 months needed to become entitled to hospital insurance benefits under Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) on that basis. Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Equity Act - Provides that a former spouse of a member of the uniformed services shall be entitled, unless expressly provided by a spousal agreement or court order, to an annuity: (1) equal to 50 percent of the retired or retainer pay of the member if married to the member throughout the creditable service of the member; or (2) equal to a pro rata share of 50 percent of such pay if not married to the member throughout the entire creditable service of the member. Requires that an election by a member not to participate, or to participate at a reduced level, in the Survivor Benefit Plan or to provide an annuity for a dependent child only must be made jointly with the member's spouse. Provides that such an election must be in writing. Allows a member who has a former spouse to jointly elect a spousal agreement with such former spouse or as provided under a court order to provide a survivor to the former spouse or to waive such an annuity. Treats a former spouse as a spouse for purposes of eligibility as a beneficiary, computation of annuities, and reductions in retired or retainer pay under the Survivor Benefit Plan if the member elects such treatment. (Present law treats a former spouse as a person with an "insurable interest" subject to certain restrictions and requiring larger reductions in retired or retainer pay.) Establishes a 24 month period during which members who were already divorced before the effective date of this Act may elect to have a former spouse covered under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Provides that a former spouse's share of retired or retainer pay shall be based on the gross amount of such pay. (Present law bases such share on the net amount of such pay after specified deductions.) Social Services and Child Care Assistance Act of 1985 - Title II: Dependent Care - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to set allotment amounts for FY 1984, 1985, and 1986 and each succeeding fiscal year. Allocates, from the allotment set for FY 1986 and available for any fiscal year, specified amounts for: (1) funding for a National Resource Center on Family Day Care; (2) grants to States which fulfill certain conditions with respect to the licensing, regulation, and monitoring of child care services; and (3) the provision of services in accordance with title XX. Provides that, of the amounts allotted for the provision of services, specified amounts shall be used: (1) for the training and retraining of human services personnel; (2) for the training and retraining in the prevention of child abuse of licensed child care operators; and (3) for the provision of child day care services to children who are abused or neglected, who are members of families receiving aid under title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of such Act, or children who are members of specified low-income groups. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add a new title XII, School-Based Child Care Programs. (Redesignates the current title XII as title XIII.) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for grants to institutions of higher education for: (1) construction, reconstruction, and renovation of facilities, located at such institutions, to be used to provide child care services (free for students from families with incomes less than 150 percent of the poverty level, and with a sliding-scale of fees based on income for other students participating); (2) child care services through vouchers for disadvantaged college students (with two-thirds of the participants to be low-income students who are first generation college students, and the remainder to be either low-income or first generation college students); and (3) child care personnel work-experience programs (which provide experience for students by arranging part-time employment for them in licensed child care programs). Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide grants to public housing authorities to assist them in providing child care services for lower income families. Requires a program report to the Congress within three years. Authorizes FY 1986 through 1988 appropriations. Title III: Insurance - 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. Prohibits any insurer from establishing auto insurance rates for women or any particular group of women which are higher or lower in relation to the rates offered men or any similarly situated group of men, except for non-gender related risk-based reasons. Grants to States having insurance discrimination laws the primary opportunity to enforce the prohibitions of this Act. Permits an aggrieved person to file a civil action in State or Federal court against an insurer if the State has terminated all proceedings under State law. 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. Authorizes the Court to: (1) order the defendant to amend any relevant contract to comply with the provisions of this Act; (2) require the defendant to pay punitive damages in addition to actual damages; and (3) award the aggrieved person reasonable attorneys' fees. Continued Access to Group Health Insurance Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require continuation coverage under group health plans for certain spouses, former spouses, and dependent children of employees insured under such plans. Makes such continuation coverage a requirement for the allowance of a tax deduction for employer contributions to group health plans. Provides that the spouse and dependent children of an insured employee may be entitled to five years of continuation coverage under a group health plan if the insured employee: (1) dies; (2) becomes separated or divorced from his or her spouse; or (3) becomes entitled to Medicare. Makes such coverage available only if it is elected within a specified period by or on behalf of the spouse or child to be covered. Sets forth notification requirements. Sets forth a special rule relating to collective bargaining agreements. Title IV: Employment - Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to: (1) conduct research for identifying and measuring wage discrimination; (2) assist any public or private entity in eliminating discriminatory pay practices; and (3) implement policies and procedures to prohibit employment discrimination. Requires the Commission to determine the number and nature of all charges filed under the Civil Rights Act of 1954 and to report to the Congress with a summary prepared pursuant to this Act. Requires the Commission to conduct a study in consultation with organizations representing Federal employees and analyze: (1) the procedures established by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish classifications of positions in the competitive service; and (2) the actual practices of the Director and the heads of Federal agencies in complying with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value when establishing job classifications for employees. Requires the Commission to report to the President and the Congress on its findings and provide a copy to the Director of OPM. Directs the Director to submit his comments on the report to the President and the Congress. Directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, to report to the President and the Congress on actions taken to enforce the prohibitions contained in Executive Order Numbered 11246 against discrimination by Federal contractors. Requires the Attorney General, acting through the Office of Civil Rights, to report to the President and the Congress on actions taken to enforce the prohibitions against sex discrimination in compensation contained in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order Numbered 11246, and other Federal laws. Requires Federal agencies responsible for submitting equal employment opportunity plans to include in such plans: (1) a review and identification of any discriminatory pay practices and any violation of the principle of equal pay for jobs of equal value; and (2) a plan for eliminating any such practices and remedying any such violation. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to provide, by contract with a consultant, for a report on discriminatory wage-setting practices and discriminatory wage differentials within the Federal position classification system and the prevailing rate (job grading) system. Defines "discriminatory wage-setting practices" as a practice resulting from lower rates of pay for female employees doing work comparable to that of higher-paid males. Requires OPM, within one month of receiving such report, to transmit a copy to the President and specified congressional committees, with written comments. Requires the consultant to submit such report to OPM and the Pay Equity Study Council (established by this Act) within six months after entering into its contract. Requires OPM, within ten days after the effective date of this Act, to establish a Pay Equity Study Council to assist in the selection of a consultant and comment on the final report. Requires that Council membership consist predominantly of representatives of labor organizations representing Federal female employees. Terminates the Council after it submits comments on the final report. Establishes a Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch. Directs the Commission to: (1) employ a nongovernmental consultant to study the compensation paid to Library of Congress personnel and analyze personnel policies of the Library; (2) evaluate the compensation system of the Library for compliance with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and make any recommendations needed to achieve compliance; (3) develop a plan for the application of title VII through the legislative branch; and (4) make recommendations to the Congress for improvement of personnel policies and practices in the legislative branch. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress 18 months after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of the final report. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to invite each State having an approved plan under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to submit an application to establish and conduct a demonstration project for the purpose of testing whether the provision of mandatory education or vocational training (or both) for the caretaker parents of dependent children under six years of age in families receiving AFDC would enable such families to leave the AFDC rolls quickly and assist such parents in securing long-term gainful employment at earnings levels sufficient to maintain their families without public assistance. Requires any State desiring to establish and conduct such a demonstration project to submit an application to the Secretary within six months after the enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to approve ten of the proposed projects. Requires six of the approved projects to be located in urban areas and four to be located in predominantly rural areas. Prohibits the approval of a project unless: (1) it is of sufficient size and scope to demonstrate program and cost effectiveness and to permit the drawing of valid inferences for evaluation and policy recommendations; (2) it will be conducted for a period of not less than three nor more than five years; (3) it covers all caretaker parents in families which are eligible for aid under the applicable State plan and which include one or more children under six years of age; (4) it provides for participation by caretaker parents on a voluntary basis; and (5) it complies fully with all other requirements and will contribute to the purposes of this Act. Defines "caretaker parent". Directs a State, in conducting an approved demonstration project, to: (1) offer each caretaker parent in a jurisdiction involved an opportunity to participate in the project; (2) establish an individualized program for the education or vocational training of each participating caretaker parent; (3) permit such parent to receive education or training under the program so established (from the time the youngest child in the care of such parent is six months old, or earlier with a physician's written permission) until either the parent is employed and self-sufficient, the parent is no longer a caretaker parent, or the family has become ineligible for aid; and (4) require the project to maintain support services, including child care, transportation, and health care services for each participant. Directs the Secretary to pay each State with an approved demonstration project 90 percent of the costs incurred by the State in establishing and carrying out such project. Requires the remainder of the costs incurred to be paid from non-Federal sources. Requires the education or training for caretaker parents in such program to meet the following requirements: (1) for caretaker parents without a high school diploma the education must lead to such diploma; (2) after receipt of such diploma (or in the case of an individual already having a high school diploma or better), the caretaker parent must participate in an approved post-secondary education program, an approved vocational education program, or a program of employment and training under auspices of the Job Training Partnership Act; (3) the award of an academic scholarship to a caretaker parent shall not result in any loss of eligibility or benefits under AFDC or any other public assistance program, so long as the scholarship payments are made directly to the appropriate educational institution; (4) the education and training must include instruction in family management and life skills, employment and job search training, career counseling, and community-supported recreational activities; (5) appropriate English language and adjustment training must be provided for caretaker parents from immigrant groups who have language or cultural adjustment difficulties; (6) special training must be provided for physically handicapped participants; (7) education and training for each participant in the project must be provided for at least 20 hours per week and must be coordinated with available child care services; and (8) any caretaker parent who has completed all of the education and training required by this Act shall remain a participant in the project for 20 hours a week of job search and placement assistance (with coordinated child care) until either the parent is employed and self-sufficient or the family has become ineligible for AFDC. Provides that in the case of a caretaker parent who ceases to be a participant in the project because he or she has completed all of the education and training required by this Act and has become employed: (1) the parent will be provided with child care services, as necessary, without charge for a six-month period, and thereafter for a certain period subject to the payment of a gradually increasing portion of the cost of such services; and (2) the parent shall be considered for a 15-month period to be still a project participant for purposes of receiving Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) and shall thereafter be similarly considered to still be a participant for such purposes but subject to stated conditions. Requires all of the child care and transportation which is necessary for a caretaker parent to participate in a demonstration project to be included, without charge to the caretaker parent, as a part of the project. Requires each approved project to be designed so as to provide an effective demonstration of: (1) the planning and design of quality and cost-effective approaches to child and infant care; (2) the cost-effective utilization of existing publicly-funded educational, vocational, and other training programs; (3) coordination with other community service providers, including job developers; and (4) cost-effective and creative approaches to the utilization of transportation facilities. Prohibits participation in an approved project by a caretaker parent from resulting in any loss of eligibility or benefits under AFDC or any other public assistance program. Permits a State to make participation mandatory if: (1) it is necessary to operate a project in a cost-effective manner; (2) participants would not be disadvantaged financially or otherwise; and (3) children in need of assistance would not be disadvantaged. Provides that if any caretaker parent who is required to participate in a project refuses to undergo any education or training required by this Act or otherwise fails to participate in an approved demonstration project, without a reasonable basis for such refusal or failure as determined on medical, psychological, psychiatric, or other grounds by an appropriate licensed practitioner in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary (subject to a State being granted a waiver): (1) such parent's needs shall not be taken into account in determining need under AFDC with respect to the parent's family; and (2) any AFDC payments shall be made in the form of protective payments. Requires each approved demonstration project to have a voluntary advisory group to assist in developing the program and in monitoring the project. Sets forth reporting requirements (including reports to the Congress). Requires each State in which a demonstration project is located to submit to the Secretary such information as the Secretary may require concerning a project. Women's Business Ownership Act of 1985 - Establishes the National Commission on Women's Business Ownership to review: (1) the status of women-owned small businesses nationwide; (2) the role of the Federal Government in aid to and the promotion of women-owned small businesses; (3) data collection procedures and the availability of data relating to women-owned businesses, women-owned small businesses, and small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women; (4) other Federal initiatives relating to women-owned small businesses, including those relating to Federal procurements; and (5) special impediments suffered by small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women. Directs the Commission to recommend: (1) new private sector initiatives which would provide management and technical assistance to women-owned small businesses; (2) ways to promote greater access to financing and procurement opportunities for such businesses; and (3) other measures relating to small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women. Terminates the Commission on the date that it transmits its final report to the President and to each House of the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Tax Reform - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the zero amount for heads of households shall be the same as the zero bracket amount for joint returns and surviving spouses. Increases the amount of the earned income tax credit from 11 percent to 16 percent of the first $5,000 of earned income. Provides for a phaseout of such credit for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes between $11,000 and $16,000. Provides that governmental payments shall be disregarded for purposes of determining support and maintenance of a household. Provides that any refund of Federal income taxes or advance payment made to an individual by reason of the earned income credit shall not be taken into account as income for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits or assistance under any Federal program or any State or local program financed in whole or part with Federal funds. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments for the amount of the earned income credit and the phase-out thresholds of such credit beginning in 1987. Allows a refundable income tax credit for: (1) employment related dependent care expenses; plus (2) expenses for the respite care of a dependent. Sets the amount of such credit at 50 percent of the sum of such expenses. Reduces such percentage (but not below 20 percent) by one percent for each full $2,000 amount by which the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $11,000. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments to such adjusted gross income amount. Limits the amount of employment-related expenses and respite care expenses which may be taken into account for purposes of such credit. Allows such credit for expenses incurred for the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is under the age of 15; (2) a dependent of the taxpayer who is physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself; or (3) a spouse who is incapable of caring for himself. Repeals present provisions relating to the income tax credit for dependent care expenses necessary for gainful employment. Increases the amount individuals may contribute on behalf of their spouses for purposes of the deduction for retirement savings. Provides that no deduction from gross income shall be allowed to a taxpayer for entertainment expenses for food, beverages, lodging, or entertainment incurred in connection with a facility which discriminates on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Exempts facilities operated by a religious organization where access is limited to members of a particular religion. Treats dues and fees paid to discriminatory facilities as nondeductible expenses. Requires the submission of a statement to the Secretary of the Treasury that a facility not open to the public does not discriminate in order for amounts paid to such facility to qualify for the entertainment expense deduction. Requires the posting of a public notice in the facility stating the nondiscriminatory policy. Permits the Secretary to revoke the acceptance of the statement of nondiscrimination. Requires the taxpayer to report on his or her income tax return any amounts paid or incurred for food, beverages, lodging, or entertainment in any facility which is not open to the public or does not serve the public in order to deduct such amounts from gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
Authorizes the Society of the Third Infantry Division to erect a memorial on public grounds in the District of Columbia or its environs in honor of the men of the "Rock of the Marne" of the Third Infantry Division who served in both World Wars, Korea, and maintaining peace. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to select a site for the memorial subject to the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, and, under certain circumstances, the Mayor of the District of Columbia. Subjects the design and plans for the memorial to the approval of the Secretary, the National Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission. Directs that the maintenance and care of the memorial shall be the Secretary's responsibility unless the memorial is on public grounds under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia in which case such duties fall on the District of Columbia. Provides that funds of the United States or the District of Columbia may not be used to erect the memorial. Directs that the authority to establish the memorial is contingent upon its erection beginning within five years with funds sufficient to ensure its completion.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1985
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to change the tariff treatment of motor fuel and motor fuel blending stock. Imposes a 10.8 percent ad valorem tax on the first 3,000,000,000 gallons of gasoline and motor fuel blending stock entered into the United States during the 12 month period beginning July 1 in any year. Imposes a 21.6 percent ad valorem tax on other type gasoline and motor fuel blending stock. Redefines the term naphthas to mean naphthas derived from petroleum, shale oil, natural gas, or combinations thereof (except those to be used as motor fuel or motor fuel blending stock). Defines motor fuel blending stock as any product derived primarily from petroleum shale oil or natural gas, whether or not containing additives, to be used for direct blending in the manufacture of motor fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1985
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide that nursing care and home health aid services may be provided on a daily basis as home health services for up to 90 days with monthly physician certification of the need for such services, and after the 90 day period on a physician certification of exceptional circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Medicare Vision Reform Act of 1985 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for all services provided by a doctor of optometry. (Current law permits coverage for optometric services only if related to the condition of aphakia). Requires payment for optometric services to be made on the basis of an assignment.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Truth in Savings Act - Requires each advertisement, announcement, or solicitation made by any depository institution regarding the rate of interest payable on any account to: (1) state the annual percentage yield and the method of compounding interest; (2) state the annual rate of simple interest and the period such interest is in effect; (3) state the frequency of interest payments; (4) give equal prominence to all annual percentage yields and annual rates of simple interest; and (5) include specified statements explaining how fees and penalties could affect the annual yield and how the yield on accounts which mature in less than one year is determined on the basis of compounding for an entire year. Requires the annual percentage yield to be stated before the annual rate of simple interest. Requires an institution to give a person a written summary of such information concerning an offered account upon request. Requires each depository institution to maintain a written schedule of all fees, charges, and terms and conditions applicable to each type of account and service routinely offered. Requires that such schedule be disclosed to potential customers and requesting individuals and mailed to account holders. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to prescribe: (1) uniform terminology to be used by depository institutions to describe interest rates and other terms affecting account earnings; and (2) uniform methods of calculating annual rates of simple interest and annual percentage yields. Provides for the enforcement of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Comprehensive Alzheimer's Assistance, Research, and Education Act of 1985 - Title I : Amendment to the Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Alzheimer's Education Program to: (1) coordinate education and training programs of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Veterans Administration, other Federal entities, State and local governments, and private organizations; (2) establish an information clearinghouse; (3) provide information to health care providers, organizations, patients, and the general public; and (4) provide technical assistance to States and public and private organizations in the collection and dissemination of information. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 for such purposes. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States to plan, establish, and operate programs to: (1) coordinate the development and operation of diagnostic, treatment, care management, respite care, legal counseling, and education services provided by public and private organizations within the State; (2) provide respite care to patients with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders; (3) provide information to health care providers, organizations, and the general public on treatment and related services for patients and their families; (4) coordinate the development and operation of continuing education for health care providers on the diagnosis, treatment, and care management of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders; (5) review State policies on the financing and reimbursement of health care costs for such patients; (6) review State nursing home regulations as they apply to such patients; and (7) coordinate with the National Alzheimer's Education Program. Limits Federal grants for such programs to the lesser of one half the cost or $1,000,000. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Directs the Secretary to establish a plan for a research program for the study of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Directs the Secretary to make grants and enter into contracts with public and private entities for ten to 20 Alzheimer's disease research centers. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Provides for the recovery from Alaska of Federal grants provided under the Public Health Service Act if within 20 years from the date of completion of a medical facility, such facility ceases to be a publicly owned facility operated for the care or treatment of patients under Alaska's mental health program. Title II: Medicare and Medicaid Research, Demonstrations, and Waivers - Directs the Secretary to conduct research, waiver, and demonstration projects under the Medicare and Medicaid provisions of the Social Security Act to determine the: (1) coverage of alternative methods of health care for patients with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders; (2) coverage of nursing home care; and (3) appropriate reimbursement levels for nursing homes with such patients. Title III: Report - Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress within two years after the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) demonstration projects in at least four States, under which: (1) the Secretary would contract with one or more health maintenance organizations or competitive medical plans (organizations) to perform the functions both of intermediaries under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII and carriers under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) with respect to benefits furnished in a State; (2) if the Secretary contracts with one organization in an area, the Secretary must permit any other organization in the area to enter into such a contract; (3) individuals residing in the State covered by the project and entitled or enrolled under part A or B of title XVIII would be required to enroll with at least one participating organization, but may elect to receive any covered service through any qualified Medicare provider; (4) an organization may offer additional benefits, at no additional cost; (5) an organization will not charge copayments or deductibles if a beneficiary is enrolled with and receives benefits directly from the organization; (6) each organization would receive payment at an annual per capita rate equal to 95 percent of the adjusted per capita cost; and (7) each organization shall have the right of final claim review for necessity and appropriateness of items and services furnished. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress a protocol report concerning such demonstration projects and annual reports.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Distilled Spirits Tax Payment Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the transfer in bond between bonded premises of distilled spirits on which tax has not been paid or determined. Allows a bonded dealer to establish a distilled spirits plant. Sets forth requirements for the operation of a distilled spirits plant by a bonded dealer. Defines "bonded dealer" as any wholesale dealer who has elected to establish a distilled spirits plant and engages in the business of purchasing distilled spirits from the primary source of supply for resale exclusively at wholesale to independent retail dealers or other wholesale dealers. Provides that every proprietor or possesser and every person interested in the premises of a distilled spirits plant shall be jointly and severally liable for the taxes imposed on distilled spirits. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to make an assessment for tax on distilled spirits not accounted for by a bonded dealer. (Present law limits such requirement to a distiller.) Provides that the credit for wine content and for flavors content shall be determined and allowable as a reduction in the rate of tax on the payment of tax by the proprietor of a distilled spirits plant, bonded dealer, or other taxpayer liable for the payment of the excise tax on such products. Allows a State or political subdivision which engages in the sale of distilled spirits to file monthly returns of taxes (rather than semimonthly). Provides that the exemption from the occupational tax shall not apply to a proprietor of a distilled spirits plant whose premises are used for operations of a bonded dealer. Sets forth certain transitional rules. Provides that no domestically produced or bottled spirits in the inventory of a bonded dealer on the effective date of this Act on which the Federal excise tax has been paid shall be subject to the filing of an excise tax return and the payment of excise tax.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Superfund Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) (Superfund) to include petroleum when designated as a hazardous substance under the coverage of such Act, including any petroleum which is released from an underground storage tank. Establishes within Superfund the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Account for expenditures required for response actions for releases or threatened releases of petroleum which is designated a hazardous substance. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer eight and one-half percent of Superfund monies into such Account.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the filing of informational returns by airlines which provide free or discount air transportation passes to customers based on a customer's patronage. Provides that such an informational return must contain the aggregate value of such passes provided in a taxable year to a customer. Requires that a statement be furnished to each customer with respect to whom information is furnished.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Authorizes election agencies to mail voter registration forms, absentee ballots, and certain related materials free of postage. Declares that this Act does not apply to mail matter transmitted under the Federal Voting Assistance Act of 1955 or the Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act of 1975.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should cancel his planned visit to the Bitburg Cemetery out of respect for the millions who suffered and died at the hands of the SS and the Nazis.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should take no action that will honor the memories of Nazi soldiers during his planned trip to the Federal Republic of Germany.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish an applicable test rate of nine percent for determining whether there is imputed interest in the case of seller-financed property. Permits a lower test interest rate of 80 percent of the Federal Treasury rate where such rates are lower than the nine percent test rate. Provides for a blended test rate for instances where the loan amount exceeds $4,000,000. Provides that in determining whether wraparound financing meets such testing rate, the test shall be applied to the net rate of interest on the seller's equity in the financing after deducting the existing third party financing. Authorizes the imputation of interest in seller-financed property sales of $4,000,000 or less of ten percent or 90 percent of the Federal Treasury rates, whichever is less, where the test interest rates have not been met. Allows for a blended imputed interest rate where the debt amount exceeds $4,000,000. Requires that all loan amounts from a single transaction or series of related transactions be aggregated for purposes of determining the loan amount. Provides that the imputed interest rules will not apply to assumptions of loans unless the terms and conditions of such debt obligations are modified in connection with the assumption. Repeals the provisions of the Code limiting the amount of interest expense a purchaser of personal use property may deduct for tax purposes. Excepts debt instruments arising from the sale or exchange of a residence from the imputed interest provisions where the obligor of the instrument uses the property as his other residence. Provides that the imputed interest rules shall not apply in the case of sales or exchanges of property where the borrowed amount does not exceed $4,000,000. Requires the interest on the obligation issued in connection with such sales or exchanges to be taken into account by both the buyer and the seller on the cash receipts and disbursement method of accounting unless both buyer and seller agree to use the accrual receipts and disbursement method of accounting.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1985
Health Service Act - Title I: Establishment and Operation of the United States Health Service - Establishes the United States Health Service as an independent agency of the executive branch. Directs the President to appoint an Interim National Health Board to govern the service during the months before a Permanent National Health Board is appointed. Requires the Interim Board to establish health care delivery regions throughout the United States, with an interim regional board for each region which shall in turn establish health care delivery districts and communities. Specifies procedures for the election of community boards by the community users and health care workers, and subsequent appointment of permanent district and regional boards, culminating, by this selection process from the bottom up, in the appointment of the permanent National Health Board from among regional users. Title II: Delivery of Health Care and Supplemental Services - Enumerates the basic health rights which the Service shall ensure in the delivery of services to users, among them: (1) the right to receive high quality health care and supplemental services without charge or discrimination; (2) the right to choose the health facilities from which to receive such services; (3) the right of access to all health information; (4) the right to an explanation of benefits and risks; (5) the right, in the event of terminal illness, to die with a maximum degree of dignity; and (6) the right to legal assistance to enforce these rights. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to entitle each employee of an employer engaged in commerce to one hour of necessary health care services for every 35 hours of employment. Lists the range of services which the Health Service shall provide. Makes all individuals within the United States and its territories eligible to receive them. Requires: (1) each community board to establish community health care facilities providing certain primary and specialized services; (2) each district board to establish a general hospital; and (3) each regional board to establish a regional medical facility with highly specialized services. Specifies additional duties of regional, district, and community boards, including education on personal health matters and environmental monitoring services. Prohibits any individual employed by a health board from engaging in the private delivery of health care services. Title III: Health Labor Force - Makes the Health Service the sole judge of the qualifications of its employees, pre-empting all State or local laws to the contrary. Directs the National Health Board to issue guidelines for the classification, certification, and employment of health workers by job category. Requires each regional board to establish a health team school for the education of health workers in its region. Applies certain Federal standards to labor-management relations within the Service, including collective-bargaining procedures and agreements. Provides for the defense of malpractice and negligence suits brought against Service employees. Title IV: Other Functions of Health Boards - Directs the National Board to establish a health rights legal service program to assist users and workers with legal problems related to health rights and health care services. Requires each regional, district, and community board to set up a health advocacy program to ensure full realization of health rights. Provides a grievance procedure for users and workers before a regional board or the National Board. Directs the National Board to oversee occupational safety and health programs at the regional level and to contribute to the development and administration of standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Requires the establishment of regional occupational safety and health programs and community safety and health action councils (COSHACs). Requires employers to provide a health facility in or near any workplace. Grants employees in any workplace with 25 or more employees the right to establish workplace occupational health and safety committees. Transfers the National Institutes of Health to the National Health Board, and requires the creation of additional National Institutes of: (1) Epidemiology; (2) Evaluative Clinical Research; (3) Health Care Services; (4) Pharmacy and Medical Supply; and (5) Sociology of Health and Health Care. Directs the National Board to formulate one-year and five-year national health plan budgets based on data collected and evaluated by the community, district, and regional boards. Requires the publication of a National Pharmacy and Medical Supply Formulary listing drugs, therapeutic devices and other medical equipment, and a comprehensive dictionary of health care terms for users. Title V: Financing of the Service - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose additional income taxes (health service taxes) on individuals and corporations to finance the health service program. Denies exclusion from gross income of amounts paid by employers on behalf of their employees to accident and health plans which provide insurance for medical expenses covered by this Act. Eliminates income tax deductions for certain health care expenses and charitable contributions to medical and hospital facilities where the services paid for could have been provided by the Health Service. Repeals the hospital insurance tax. Creates in the Treasury the Health Service Trust Fund. Transfers to such Fund all the assets and liabilities of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Directs the National Board to prepare a national health budget for each fiscal year based on plans and budgets submitted annually by the regional, district, and community boards. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Makes conforming amendments to specified Acts.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1985
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to revise provisions relating to the cost-of-living adjustment to provide for both benefit and income eligibility amount increases.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1985
States that no legislation should be considered by the House of Representatives with respect to FY 1985 through 1987 which: (1) would result in determining a cost-of-living increase under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act on any basis other than the Consumer Price Index; (2) would delay the effective date for such increase; or (3) would eliminate or limit such increase.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1985
Employment Opportunities for Disabled Americans Act - Title I: SSI Work Incentive Provisions - Makes permanent provisions which provide benefits under title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act for individuals who perform substantial gainful activity despite a severe medical impairment. Revises the eligibility requirements for such benefits. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and implement procedures which provide that whenever an individual is formally notified of his or her SSI eligibility, such individual will also be notified of the availability of assistance under title XIX (Medicaid) of such Act. Directs the Secretary, when any individual receives SSI benefits on the basis of a disability, to notify such individual of his or her potential eligibility for the SSI benefits available for those performing substantial gainful activity despite a severe medical impairment. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the operation of the SSI section which provides benefits for individuals who perform substantial gainful activity despite a severe medical impairment, with the particular objective of evaluating the work incentive provisions of such section. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress the findings of such study. Title II: Disabled Workers Demonstration Program - Amends the Rehabilitation Act to direct the Secretary of Education to establish grant programs to: (1) assist employers to plan, implement, operate, expand, and evaluate retention and reemployment demonstration programs for disabled workers; (2) assist employers to develop plans for the initiation or substantial expansion of a comprehensive retention and reemployment program for disabled workers; (3) assist employers to implement or substantially expand a comprehensive retention and reemployment program for disabled workers; and (4) assist employers in evaluating the effectiveness of any retention and reemployment program for disabled workers. Requires any employer requesting a grant to apply to the Secretary in such form, and at such times, as the Secretary may request. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1992. Title III: Employment Opportunities Demonstration Program for SSI and Disability Insurance Recipients - Directs to Secretary to establish a grant program to assist the States in establishing and operating demonstration programs to promote, identify, secure, and evaluate employment opportunities for individuals receiving SSI on the basis of blindness or disability, and individuals receiving disability insurance benefits or child's insurance benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Requires any State requesting a grant to apply to the Secretary in such form, and at such times, as the Secretary may require. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Makes it a Federal criminal offense for any person to possess a readily convertible firearm (a machine gun). Provides for a fine of not more than $250,000 or imprisonment for not more than ten years or both. Establishes an exception regarding the use of such firearm by the United States or by a State or local agency. Allows for a 90-day transition period before the prohibition takes effect. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase during the applicable transition period any such firearm at a price not greater than fair market value. Requires the Secretary to notify persons possessing such firearms of the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for outpatient occupational therapy services.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Trade Law Modernization Act of 1985 - Title I: National Trade Policy and Negotiating Objectives; Negotiation Authority - Sets forth national trade policy objectives that shall guide U.S. trade policy and domestic economic policy. Directs the Administering Authority (the U.S. Trade Representative) to submit by March 1 of each year to specified congressional committees a statement of the actions the Administering Authority proposes to take during such year to achieve such objectives. Requires the committees to hold hearings on such proposals and to advise the Administering Authority on such proposals. Declares that U.S. objectives in any trade negotiations shall be: (1) to obtain more open and equitable market access abroad for U.S. products and services, the reduction and elimination of the adverse effects of certain foreign trade practices, and improved effectiveness of the rules governing international trade; (2) to develop internationally accepted rules which meet certain needs; and (3) to promote international cooperation in trade and monetary policies. Directs the Administering Authority to seek to obtain fair and equitable market opportunities through consultations on negotiations with foreign countries or instrumentalities in order to remedy the harmful efforts on U.S. trade of discriminatory procurement practices and regulatory requirements of such countries or instrumentalities. Authorizes the Administering Authority to: (1) suspend or withdraw benefits under any trade agreement with such countries or instrumentalities; (2) direct customs officers to impose import restrictions on the goods of such countries or instrumentalities and to impose fees or restrictions on the services of such countries or instrumentalities; (3) make available analysis and information to other U.S. agencies and courts for the purpose of ensuring consideration by such agencies and courts of the competitive impact of pending administrative or judicial decisions of such agencies or courts that could significantly enlarge the access of foreign products and services to the U.S. market; and (4) recommend action to the President with respect to service sector access authorization (a Federal authorization that gives a foreign supplier of services access to U.S. markets). Directs the Administering Authority, if there is a significant denial of market opportunities in a foreign country for U.S. products and services in an economic sector where the United States has increased market opportunities for such country's products and services, to: (1) act to obtain fair and equitable market opportunities in the markets of such foreign country; and (2) pending achievement of such opportunities, impose equivalent conditions of market access. Authorizes action to be taken under this Act upon motion of the Administering Authority or after investigation upon the filing of a petition. Title II: Transfer of Authority to Administering Authority; Amendments to Title I of Trade Act of 1974 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to transfer from the President to the Administering Authority the authority to: (1) take action in cases of market disruption; and (2) extend tariff preferences under the Generalized System of Preferences. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to transfer from the President to the Administering Authority the authority to make the final review of actions to prevent unfair practices in the importation of articles into the United States. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a program to evaluate the industrial and trade policies of other countries and the effects of such policies on U.S. industries, trade, and employment. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress annually on such program. Directs the Secretary in conjunction with the U.S. Trade Representative, to establish special industry sector advisory panels to assess the actual or potential dislocation, challenge, or opportunity for the industry sectors involved and to formulate recommendations for responses by business, government, and labor. Requires the industry and labor advisory committees established by the Trade Act of 1974 to hold joint meetings at the call of the respective committee chairs and to meet at the call of the Administering Authority before and during trade negotiations to provide policy and technical advice and advice on any other factors relevant to U.S. positions in such trade negotiations. Authorizes the President to impose a temporary import surcharge at a level which the President determines to be necessary to assist in restoring equilibrium in the balance of payments in certain circumstances. (Currently such surcharge may not exceed 15 percent.) Limits the duration of such surcharge or limits imposed on imports to improve the balance of payments to one year. (Currently such measures may be imposed for only 150 days.) Deletes certain restrictions on imposing import limitations for such purposes. Authorizes one year extensions of such measures. Title III: Relief from Injury Caused by Import Competition - Transfers from the President to the Administering Authority the authority to take certain actions following import relief investigations by the International Trade Commission (ITC). Authorizes a petition for import relief to include within its statement of reasons for requesting import relief the desire to facilitate the orderly transfer of resources to enhance competitiveness. Changes the scope of the ITC's import relief investigation to include determining whether an article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a cause (currently substantial cause) of serious injury or threat of serious injury to any domestic industry that produces an article like or directly competitive with the imported article or that produces materials, parts, components, or subassemblies irrevocably destined for incorporation in an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. Changes one of the factors that must be considered in making such determination with respect to serious injury in order to cover the inability of a significant number of firms to operate domestic production facilities at a reasonable profit. (Current law refers to the inability of firms to operate at a reasonable profit.) Changes the factors that must be considered in making such determination with respect to the threat of serious injury in order to cover: (1) a decline in sales or market share in the domestic industry; (2) a higher and growing inventory in the domestic industry; (3) a downward trend in production, profits, wages, or employment (or increasing under employment) in the domestic industry; (4) any combination of coordinated government actions that are bestowed on a specific enterprise, industry, or group thereof the effect of which is to assist the beneficiary to become more competitive in the export of any class or kind of merchandise and that causes or threatens to cause serious injury to the domestic industry; (5) the extent to which the U.S. market is the focal point for diversion of exports of the article concerned because of restraints on exports of such article to, or imports of such articles into, third country markets; and (6) in the case of an industry that has developed an industry assessment and competitiveness strategy, the inability of producers in the domestic industry to generate adequate capital to finance the modernization of plant and equipment or to otherwise enhance competitiveness. Requires (currently authorizes) the ITC to make certain determinations with respect to determining the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with an imported article. Defines "cause" for purposes of determining whether imports are a cause of injury to mean a cause which is important. Declares that a cause may be important even though other causes are of equal or greater importance. Requires the ITC, if it finds that serious injury or the threat of serious injury exists for a domestic industry, to: (1) find the amount of the increase in, or imposition of, any duty or import restriction necessary to prevent or remedy such injury; and (2) if it determines that adjustment assistance can assist in remedying such injury, recommend the provision of such assistance. Directs the Administering Authority, if during an import relief investigation it finds that critical circumstances exist, to impose provisional measures (increase in tariff, tariff-rate quotas, quantitative restrictions, orderly marketing agreements or a combination of such actions). Requires such measures to remain in effect until the later of the date: (1) on which the President revokes such measures; (2) on which the ITC makes a negative determination of injury; or (3) which is 60 days after the date on which the ITC makes an affirmative determination of injury. Declares that critical circumstances exist if a significant increase in imports over a short time has led to circumstances in which delay in relief would cause damage that would be difficult to repair. Requires the ITC, if it finds that serious injury has resulted from imports, to determine: (1) whether trade in the article concerned has been affected by coordinated government actions that are bestowed on a specific enterprise, industry, or group and that assist the beneficiary in becoming more competitive in exporting a class or kind of merchandise; and (2) the extent to which the U.S. market is the focal point for diversion of exports of such article because of restraints on exports of such article to, or on imports of such article into, third country markets. Directs the Administering Authority, if it determines to provide import relief and the ITC has found that trade in the article has been affected by such coordinated government actions, to consult and negotiate with other countries that produce or consume such article to seek the establishment of a multilateral framework to maintain and develop fair, equitable, and nondisruptive patterns of trade in such article. Directs the Administering Authority, after the ITC begins an import relief investigation based on a petition, to establish, upon request, an industry advisory group. Requires such an advisory group to prepare for the industry concerned an assessment of current problems and a strategy to enhance competitiveness. Directs the Administering Authority to try to obtain, on a confidential basis, information from the individual members of such advisory group on: (1) how such members intend to act upon the recommendations in such assessment and strategy; and (2) any other actions such members intend to take which will foster the objectives of the strategy. Requires the Administering Authority, the ITC, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Commerce to consider such assessment and strategy in making any import relief determination or taking any import relief actions. Requires the Administering Authority, if it determines to provide import relief and if an industry assessment and competitiveness strategy was submitted to the Administering Authority, to publish notice of the availability of, and a summary of, such assessment and strategy. Requires a review committee, if such summary is published, to: (1) monitor actions taken by the petitioners to improve the competitive position of the industry; (2) make recommendations for administrative action; and (3) submit recommended legislation to the Congress. Requires the review committee to consult with the advisory group members if the review committee determines that the firms or workers are not implementing or are implementing unsatisfactorily: (1) the recommended objectives and actions in the industry assessment and competitiveness strategy; or (2) the actions declared in the confidential information obtained by the advisory group. Requires the Administering Authority to request the ITC to issue a report on the probable economic effect on the industry of import relief if, after consultations with the advisory group members, the review committee determines that the failure to implement or failure to implement satisfactorily such actions is not justified by changed circumstances and has adversely affected overall implementation of the objectives of the industry assessment and competitiveness strategy. Requires the Administering Authority, if it decides to provide import relief, to consult with petitioners and representatives of workers and firms in the affected industry on the advisability and desirability of taking appropriate action under countervailing or antidumping duty provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 or under title III of the Trade Act of 1974 if the Administering Authority has reason to believe that a foreign government or firm is engaged in any action or practice for which such relief is available. Title IV: Relief from Injurious Industrial Targeting and Unfair Trade Practices - Provides that injurious industrial targeting may trigger import relief actions. Defines injurious industrial targeting to mean any combination of coordinated government actions: (1) which are bestowed on a specific enterprise, industry, or group thereof; (2) which assist such enterprise, industry, or group to become more competitive in the export of any class or kind of merchandise; and (3) which cause or threaten to cause material injury. Transfers from the President to the Administering Authority the authority to take certain actions to enforce U.S. rights under trade agreements and to respond to certain foreign trade practices. Authorizes the Administering Authority to: (1) suspend, withdraw, or prevent application of the benefit of trade agreement concessions with the foreign country or instrumentality involved; (2) direct customs officers to assess duties or impose other import restrictions on the products of such country or instrumentality or to assess fees or impose restrictions on the services of such country or instrumentality for such time, in such amount, and to such degree as the Administering Authority deems appropriate; (3) negotiate agreements to offset the burden or restrictions on U.S. commerce; (4) submit proposed administrative actions and legislation to implement any other government action which would restore or improve the international competitive position of the injured or threatened industry; (5) recommend action by the President; or (6) any combination of such actions. Transfers to the Administering Authority from the President the authority to impose certain limits on service sector access authorizations (authorizations that permit a foreign supplier of services access to the U.S. market). Authorizes the President, upon recommendation of the Administering Authority, to: (1) restrict the terms and conditions of any service sector access authorization; or (2) deny the issuance of any such authorization. Directs the Administering Authority to consult with representatives of domestic firms and workers that may be affected by any import relief investigation which is initiated by petition filed with the Administering Authority regarding any determination which is required to be made by the Administering Authority. Directs the Administering Authority, upon written request, to make confidential business information obtained by it in connection with an import relief investigation available under a protective order. Prohibits release of information classified for national security reasons. Requires the Administering Authority to act upon requests for such information within ten days of the request. Requires the Administering Authority, in conducting an import relief investigation initiated by petition to the Administering Authority, to present detailed questionnaires to the foreign government or enterprise involved in order to obtain information concerning the allegations in the petition. Directs the Administering Authority to verify any such information which the Administering Authority relied upon in making any determinations. Provides for relying on the best information available, which may be the information contained in the petition, if the foreign government fails to provide information or provides insufficient or unsatisfactory information. Requires the Administering Authority to make a preliminary determination within five months of the start of such an import relief investigation on whether there is reason to believe that import relief is warranted. Authorizes the Administering Authority to take certain actions based on the preliminary finding. Requires the final determination to be made within 11 months of the start of the investigation. Requires the Administering Authority to determine what actions to take if the final determination is that import relief is warranted except that specific actions are required if injurious industrial targeting is found to exist. Requires the Administering Authority to consult with the petitioner and representatives of the affected domestic firms and workers if the final determination is affirmative. Requires the Administering Authority to report to the Congress if the final determination is affirmative and the Administering Authority declines to take any action. Terminates any preliminary import relief if the final determination is negative. Requires publication in the Federal Register of such preliminary and final determinations. Requires the Administering Authority, if it makes a preliminary finding that injurious industrial targeting exists, to: (1) establish an advisory committee; and (2) formulate, in consultation with such advisory committee, proposals which would restore or improve the competitive position of affected domestic industries. Requires the Administering Authority to notify the ITC when it initiates an investigation of injurious industrial targeting. Requires the ITC to make a preliminary determination within 60 days of receiving such notice of whether there is a reasonable indication that because of sales or likely sales of the merchandise which is the subject of the investigation: (1) an industry in the United States is materially injured or is threatened with material injury; or (2) the establishment or growth of an industry in the United States is materially retarded. Requires the ITC to make a final determination of whether such circumstances exist by: (1) 45 days after the affirmative final determination of the Administering Authority if the Administering Authority's preliminary determination is affirmative; or (2) 75 days after an affirmative final determination of the Administering Authority if the Administering Authority's preliminary determination is negative. Makes the ITC's determination subject to review by the U.S. Court of International Trade if such determinations were made under the countervailing or antidumping duty provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930. Defines material injury and threat of material injury. Requires the Administering Authority to submit to the President any proposed administrative action and any proposed legislation to restore or improve the competitive position of the injured industry if the preliminary and final determinations are that injurious industrial targeting has occurred. Provides for expedited consideration of such legislation. Requires the Administering Authority to report to the Congress on the actions the Administering Authority will take to offset the material injury or threat of material injury from the injurious industrial targeting. Authorizes the Administering Authority to enter into a settlement agreement with the foreign country or entity involved in lieu of taking other actions if: (1) such agreement completely eliminates the material injury or threat of material injury from the injurious industrial targeting; and (2) such agreement is approved by the petitioner if the investigation began because of a petition. Authorizes the Administering Authority to take actions to compensate a foreign country or entity if the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) disapprove of actions taken in response to injurious industrial targeting. Directs the Administering Authority to consult with the petitioner and the representatives of affected domestic firms and workers if, in the course of an investigation, the Administering Authority has reason to believe that a foreign government engaged in dumping or other actions for which relief is available under specified provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930. Title V: Countervailing and Antidumping Duties - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to add requirements for a country to be considered a "country under the Agreement" for purposes of the countervailing duty provisions of such Act. Requires such a country to have made a commitment under the GATT to: (1) eliminate its export subsidies within one year (five for least developed countries); (2) not increase, extend, or add export subsidies; and (3) eliminate immediately export subsidies on those products in which such country is competitive. Requires the ITC, upon request, to investigate whether the merchandise is already competitive in the U.S. market and whether the merchandise would be competitive in the absence of export subsidies. Directs the Administering authority to review the status of, and compliance with, specified agreements at least once during each 12-month period. Directs the Administering Authority to publish such determinations. Imposes penalties for failure of a foreign country to honor any term of such agreements. Includes natural resource subsidies within the definition of subsidy for purposes of such Act. Declares that a natural resource subsidy exists if: (1) a natural resource product is provided or sold by a government-controlled entity within a country for use in the manufacture or production in such country of merchandise which is the subject of a countervailing duty investigation at a domestic price that is lower than the fair market value of the natural resource product in such country and that is not freely available to U.S. producers for purchase of that product for export to the United States; and (2) such natural resource product would, if sold at the fair market value, constitute a significant portion of the total cost of the manufacture or production of such merchandise. Changes the definition of foreign market value for purposes of countervailing duty investigations. Requires the Administering Authority to include in calculating the cost of producing the merchandise the value of any benefit the producer or manufacturer has received from government research and development programs. Requires sales made at less than cost of production to be disregarded in the determination of foreign market value if such sales were made over an extended period of time and in substantial quantities. Sets forth a special rule for determining cost of production and constructed value if imports of the merchandise into the home market have been unreasonably restrained. Requires the ITC, in determining whether a U.S. industry is threatened with material injury because of imports, to consider: (1) any combination of coordinated government actions that are bestowed on a specific enterprise, industry, or group thereof the effect of which is to assist the beneficiary to become more competitive in the export of any merchandise and to cause or threaten to cause material injury to the United States; and (2) the extent to which the United States is the focal point for exports of the merchandise by reason of restraints on exports of the merchandise to, or on imports of the merchandise into, third country markets.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Defense Environmental Restoration Act of 1985 - Subjects facilities under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense to the requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) (Superfund). Exempts the Secretary from the financial responsibility requirements. Prohibits the delegation to the Secretary of any response authority under such Act, requiring such authority to remain with the President or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as appropriate. Permits the designation of the Secretary and other Department of Defense (DOD) officials as natural resources trustees under such Act. Authorizes the Administrator to delegate other authorities to the Secretary or DOD officials if it would be cost-effective except the authority to approve remedial action at a site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in a nonemergency situation. Authorizes the President to issue response action orders as necessary to protect the national security. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Office of the Secretary an office to implement the Defense Environmental Restoration Program which includes investigating and cleaning up contamination from hazardous substances and correcting environmental damage. Directs the Secretary to carry out response actions with respect to releases of hazardous substances from sites and vessels under the Secretary's jurisdiction. Excludes response actions which do not result in a new facility from military construction requirements. Permits removal or remedial action by another responsible party. Directs the Secretary to pay all fees and charges imposed by State and local authorities for storage and/or disposal of hazardous substances on lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to implement the administrative abatement authorities where there may be an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or the environment from a DOD controlled facility. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 to carry out the restoration program. Makes available to the Secretary amounts recovered from responsible parties for response actions of the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to settle claims under CERCLA up to a specified amount. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for emergency removal actions where the release or threatened release of any hazardous substance presents an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or environment. Limits the per-site expenditure unless the Secretary and the Administrator agree that continued response actions are required in an emergency-type situation. Requires each emergency removal action to be completed within six months if possible or within 18 months at the outside. Requires the Secretary to notify the Congress within 15 days of obligating emergency funds. Authorizes the Secretary to use facility maintenance funds for response actions, including emergency actions. Authorizes the Secretary to utilize the services of any other Government agency on a reimbursable basis to carry out this Act. Directs the Secretary to establish a research, development, and demonstration program regarding hazardous waste management, including cost-effective strategies and technological innovation. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990. Directs the Secretary to notify the Administrator of the Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) within one year of this Act's enactment of the 25 hazardous substances most frequently used at DOD facilities for which no standard or water quality criteria are in effect under the other Federal environmental and water quality statutes. Requires ATSDR to prepare profiles on such substances within one year of receiving the funds to do so. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to keep the regional EPA offices and the appropriate State and local authorities informed about any hazardous substance releases or proposed response actions occurring at a DOD site within their area. Requires that such notice be made prior to taking a response action in nonemergency situations. Directs the Secretary to establish a Technical Review Committee of such authorities whenever possible to review and comment on DOD proposals. Requires the Secretary to provide an opportunity for public participation before adopting a plan for remedial action at any DOD site on the NPL. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on the implementation of this Act, including a statement for each site and its hazardous substances, the response actions taken or proposed, and the costs involved. Directs the Secretary to provide the Congress with information on military construction projects in the budget attributable to environmental restoration programs. Requires military construction authorizations to separately set forth the amount requested for environmental restoration for each military department and defense agency. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out otherwise unauthorized emergency construction for hazardous substance response actions up to a specified amount and after congressional notification.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Medicare Quality Assurance Reform Act of 1985 - Amends part B (Peer Review of the Utilization and Quality of Health Care Services) of title XI of the Social Security Act to establish a National Council on Quality Assurance. Directs the Director of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment to provide for the appointment of members of the Council. States that the general functions of the Council shall be to: (1) provide oversight on the operations of the quality assurance system under title XVIII (Medicare) of such Act; and (2) make recommendations annually to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Congress for improvements in the system. Sets forth the Council's function more specifically. Requires the Council to report annually to the Congress on the functioning and progress of the Council. Authorizes appropriations. Requires contracts with utilization and quality control peer review organizations to provide that: (1) at least one-half of the organizations' efforts must be on quality assurance activities; and (2) quality assurance activities shall be conducted with respect to all the different types of items and services covered by Medicare; and (3) the level of activity for each of the different types of services and items shall reasonably reflect the proportion of Medicare payments made for that type of services or items. Adds to the definition of the term "utilization and quality control peer review organization so as to require such an entity to: (1) include in its composition representatives of other individuals responsible for the provision of services and items for which the organization is responsible for conducting quality assurance activities; and (2) have a consumer advisory board. Defines a "consumer advisory board." Requires any utilization and quality control peer review organization to: (1) educate Medicare beneficiaries; (2) provide for a toll-free 24 hour telephone number, which shall be provided to Medicare beneficiaries for the purpose of receiving questions and complaints from Medicare beneficiaries; (3) assist in resolving any such complaints that are legitimate; (4) make available to its consumer advisory boards appropriate information received from the telephone service; and (5) train members of its consumer advisory board. Appropriates funds, in addition to any other amounts appropriated to carry out part B of title XI, from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund for distribution to utilization and quality control peer review organizations. Sets forth study and reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to establish a program to assist State governments in funding State established veterans' services programs which assist veterans with their benefits. Sets forth grant application procedures, including a description of the State plan for coordination of a State veterans' services assistance program with the programs of local veterans' service organizations. Requires a State plan to show that the delivery of services will be managed at the local level and that a State will increase the amount of matching funds it provides in each fiscal year through the third fiscal year of the grant. Directs the Administrator to prescribe regulations to evaluate grant applications. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988.
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