United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1981
Air Traffic Controller Act of 1981 - Redefines the terms "air traffic controller" and "controller," for purposes of civil service provisions, to mean air traffic control specialists of the GS-2152 series, excluding management officials. Establishes a workweek of four consecutive eight-hour days for controllers. Directs the Office of Personnel Management to issue regulations providing that: (1) a controller shall be eligible for full retirement after 20 years of service as a controller actively engaged in the control of air traffic; (2) payment of the controller's retirement annuity shall commence within 30 days after the retirement date; and (3) the controller shall qualify for vested rights in the retirement program after five years of service. Declares that controllers shall accrue one day of sick leave for each biweekly pay period. Grants the controllers' exclusive representative the right to bargain collectively with their employer concerning wages, hours, and other conditions of employment. Establishes a salary classification system for controllers. Provides for differential payments for hours worked during a night shift, weekend, or an assignment as an on-the-job instructor. Exempts the salary of an air traffic controller from provisions limiting the pay of Federal employees.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1981
Full Recognition of Angola Resolution - Calls upon the President to recognize the present Government of Angola and to establish full diplomatic relations with Angola.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1981
Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1981 - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) maintain an information program to provide small businesses an opportunity to participate in Federal small business innovation research (SBIR) programs; (2) coordinate a schedule for release of SBIR solicitations and prepare a master release schedule; (3) monitor SBIR programs within Federal agencies; and (4) report annually to the congressional Small Business Committees on the SBIR programs. Requires each Federal agency with a research and development budget of at least $100,000,000 in FY 1982 or any subsequent fiscal year to spend a specified percentage of its budget in connection with an SBIR program. Requires each Federal agency with a research and development budget of at least $20,000,000 in FY 1982 or any subsequent fiscal year to establish specific goals for funding research and development agreements with small businesses. Directs each Federal agency to report annually to the SBA the number of awards over $10,000 made under the SBIR program and to concerns other than small business concerns. Directs the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, in conjunction with the SBA, to promulgate regulations for the conduct of the SBIR programs. States that this Act does not authorize the appropriation of funds.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1981
Amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the three day prior hospitalization requirement for coverage of extended care services.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1981
Airline Deregulation Amendments Act of 1981 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to modify the definition of "ticket agent" as used in such Act. Directs air carriers to file with the Civil Aeronautics Board until December 31, 1982, individual and joint fares and charges, classifications, rules, and services for or in connection with interstate and overseas passenger air transportation. Requires that such filings shall be made with the Secretary of Transportation between January 1, 1983, and December 31, 1984. Prohibits air carriers and ticket agents from charging or collecting greater or less or different compensation than that specified in such filings. Transfers the authority of the Board relating to foreign air transportation to the Department of Transportation. Accelerates to January 1, 1983, the transfer of specified authority of the Board. Allows the Board to approve any contract or agreement that reduces or eliminates competition if it finds that the contract or agreement is necessary to secure important public benefits, including the marketing and sale of transportation through ticket agents. Sets forth the expiration dates for specified authority of the Secretary relating to contract approvals. Revises the expiration date and contents of the Secretary's (currently the Board's) report to Congress concerning the implementation of such Act. Prohibits the Board from issuing any final order or rule in regard to agreements among air carriers and agreements among foreign air carriers insofar as those agreements provide for the accreditation and supervision of travel agents. Directs the Board to forward the recommendations and analyses concerning such proceedings to the Secretary for final disposition. Prohibits the Board and the Department from attaching an expiration date on any certificate of public convenience and necessity. Deletes provisions concerning the issuance of such certificates for temporary authority to provide air transportation. Requires that each air carrier or foreign air carrier shall keep on file with the Board after January 1, 1983, the established divisions of all joint rates, fares, and charges for air transportation in which such carrier participates.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1981
Independent Local Newspaper Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the establishment of independent local newspaper advance estate tax trusts to facilitate payment of the estate tax imposed upon the estate of a decedent who owned an interest in an independent local newspaper. Sets forth requirements for the establishment of such trusts, including requirements that such trusts: (1) be created pursuant to a plan adopted by the newspaper; (2) be governed by a written instrument which requires that contributions to and income of the trust be invested solely in obligations of the United States; (3) name as trustee a bank or another individual who is capable of administering such trust in compliance with the requirements of this Act; (4) maintain trust assets separately from other property; (5) accept contributions exclusively from independent local newspapers; (6) devote assets of the trust solely to the payment of the estate tax; and (7) distribute any excess funding of the trust to its beneficiaries or their estates. Limits an individual who owns interests in several independent local newspapers to participation in not more than one estate tax payment trust. Defines an "independent local newspaper" as a newspaper publication which is not a member of a chain and which maintains all its offices in a single city, community or metropolitan area, or, on January 1, 1981, within one State. Defines "excess funding" as the excess of the face value of the assets of a qualified trust over: (1) 70 percent of the value of a decedent's interest in an independent local newspaper which is includable in his gross estate; or (2) a decedent's estate tax which is attributable to his interest in an independent local newspaper included in his gross estate. Exempts independent local newspaper advance estate tax trusts and the individuals for whom such trusts are established from income taxation with respect to income earned by such trust. Terminates such tax-exempt status if the taxpayer's interest in the newspaper is sold, the newspaper itself is sold or ceases to qualify as an independent newspaper, or there is an excess funding of the trust. Provides that the amount of any excess funding shall be distributed to the individual for whom the trust was created and included in his gross income or gross estate. Allows an income tax deduction to local independent newspapers for contributions made to estate tax payment trusts. Limits the amount of such deduction to 50 percent of the taxable income derived from such newspaper for the taxable year. Requires the redetermination of the estate tax of an individual for whom an independent local newspaper advance estate tax trust is established and the inclusion in the gross estate of such individual of an amount equal to the estate tax payment made by such trust which is attributable to the individual's interest in the newspaper, if the trust or any heir of the individual sells, within 15 years of the death of such individual, any part of the interest in the newspaper with respect to which the trust was created. Provides for the gradual phaseout of any additional estate tax which is imposed due to the premature sale of a newspaper, if the sale does not occur prior to the ten to 15 year period following the death of the individual for whom the estate tax trust is established. Permits the shareholders of an independent local newspaper who receive the stock of a corporation which the newspaper controls to exclude from their gross income any gain realized as a result of such distribution if: (1) the shareholders do not sell such stock within five years after the date of its distribution; (2) the shareholders retain control of the newspaper for five years after the date of the distribution; and (3) the newspaper and the controlled corporation each continue to be engaged in the active conduct of a trade or business through the five year period beginning on the date of the distribution. Excludes from the gross estate of a decedent the value of any interest in an independent local newspaper which he holds at the time of his death and any estate tax payment made by an independent local newspaper advance estate tax payment trust. Permits the executor of an estate which includes an interest in an independent local newspaper to pay the estate tax in two or more (but not exceeding ten) equal installments. Limits the maximum amount of estate tax that may be paid in installments to the excess of the amount of estate tax over the tax that would have been imposed if the interest in the newspaper had not been included in the gross estate, reduced by all payments of the estate tax made by an independent local newspaper advance estate tax payment trust.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1981
Directs the United States Postal Service to provide and sell a postage stamp issue to honor American servicemen and women who have been prisoners of war or missing in action as a result of their service during military conflict. Provides that such postage stamp shall be of such denomination and shall be sold for such a time as the United States Postal Service shall determine.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1981
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to state that a food intended for human consumption shall be deemed misbranded unless it is labeled to show the amount of sodium and potassium it contains when in excess of a certain amount of milligrams. Permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services to exempt a food from such requirement by requiring the information to be prominently displayed in close proximity to the place of display or sale of such food. Exempts from such labeling requirements any manufacturer of such foods whose total annual sale are less than a specified amount.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1981
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study to determine whether there is a relationship between the exposure of members of the U.S. armed forces to nuclear radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and any abnormal health symptoms currently exhibited by such individuals. Requires a report to Congress within two years of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat as long-term capital gain amounts actually paid to a taxpayer with respect to a small business participating debenture (SBPD) which constitute the distribution of a share of the earnings of the issuer. Defines "small business participating debenture" (SBPD) as a written debt instrument issued by a qualified small business which: (1) is a general obligation of such business; (2) bears interest at not less than specified by the Secretary of the Treasury; (3) has a fixed maturity; (4) grants no voting or conversion rights in the business to the purchaser; and (5) provides for the payment of a share of the issuer's total earnings. Defines "qualified small business" as one: (1) whose equity capital does not exceed $10,000,000; (2) the face value of all of whose outstanding SBPD's does not exceed $1,000,000; and (3) which has no outstanding securities subject to regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Treats members of a controlled group of corporations as a single taxpayer. Denies capital gains treatment where the taxpayer is a "related party" to the SBPD issuer. Treats losses on small business participating debentures as ordinary losses. Allows an interest expense deduction for interest and share-of-earnings payments made on such debentures.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1981
Condemns the trial and conviction of Dr. Viktor Brailovsky by the Soviet Union. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the President should express to the Soviet Union U.S. concern and opposition to the internal exile of Dr. Brailovsky and to the Soviet Union's refusal to permit Dr. Brailovsky and his family to emigrate; (2) the Soviet Union should comply with various international agreements by reversing Dr. Brailovsky's conviction and by permitting him and his family to emigrate; and (3) the Soviet Union should cease persecuting individuals seeking to emigrate and should cease denying basic rights to Soviet Jews.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1981
Directs the Joint Committee on the Library to procure a bust or statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior, for placement in a suitable location in the Capitol.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1981
Postal Service Amendments of 1981 - Authorizes the United States Postal Service to issue written demands requiring access to books, records, documents, or other objects believed to relate to any postal offense or civil matter under investigation by the Postal Service. Provides for the enforcement of such a demand by the appropriate district court. Authorizes the Postal Service to issue an order requiring any person to cease and desist from conducting a lottery or scheme for obtaining money or property by false representations through the mail. Declares that the resumption of such an activity through the use of any instrumentality of interstate commerce shall be considered to be a failure to comply with such order. Permits the Postal Service, in investigating whether a person is conducting such an activity, to tender the price of any article or service that such person has offered for sale. Declares that failure by such person to provide such article or service, or failure to comply with a written demand of the Postal Service for access to materials, shall constitute probable cause to believe such person is engaged in such activities, warranting the detention of such person's incoming mail. Establishes a civil penalty to be assessed by the Postal Service, after an opportunity for an agency hearing, against any person who: (1) attempts to evade an order directing the postmaster to return mail addressed to such person; (2) fails to comply with a cease and desist; or (3) assists another person in evading such an order.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1981
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 (3) the right to legal assistance to enforce these rights. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to entitle each employee of an employer subject to compensation for 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 (OSHACs). Requires employers to provide a health facility in or near any workplace having 25 or more employees. 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 · 9 June 1981
Directs each Federal agency to require any grant applicant proposing to use grant funds to construct a building to determine whether there are any vacant schools which can be used in lieu of such building.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit through 1984. Restricts the applicability of retroactive certifications of individuals as members of targeted groups for purposes of such credit.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1981
Missing Children Act - Directs the Attorney General to collect and preserve information which would assist in: (1) the identification of any deceased individual who has not been identified within 30 days of his or her death; and (2) the location of any missing child who is under the age of 17, does not have a history of running away, and has been missing for at least 48 hours.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1981
Includes the services of a dentist as part of the coverage provided under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Eliminates the exclusion of dentures. Includes inpatient hospital services provided in connection with the provision of any service rendered by a dentist among the services covered under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII, if an individual requires hospitalization in connection with the provision of such services.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1981
Prohibits the Federal Trade Commission from investigating or taking any action concerning any State regulated profession until Congress enacts legislation which expressly provides that the Commission has authority over professions and that the Commission's authority preempts State authority. Vacates any such action taken during the period beginning on May 28, 1981, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $100,000 to $300,000 the allowable cost of used property eligible for the investment tax credit. Provides for a three-year carryback and a seven-year carryover of amounts which exceed such limitation.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1981
Terminated Employee Pension Restoration Act of 1981 - Authorizes payment of a Federal annuity to persons (or spouses of such persons) who: (1) were participants in a private employee pension plan which was terminated before July 1, 1974; (2) had, immediately before termination, a nonforfeitable benefit under the plan; and (3) have not received payment in full of such benefit because of the plan's termination. Sets forth the method of computing the annuity. Directs the Secretary of Labor to approve a claim for such an annuity if the claim meets the Secretary's regulations and includes evidence establishing that the claimant is a qualified participant or a qualified spouse. Sets forth the procedure for review of denial of such an annuity claim. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make annuity payments to entitled individuals after receipt of specified information from the Secretary of Labor. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to work with other Federal agencies to avoid unnecessary expense and duplication of functions. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require disclosure of tax return information to Labor Department employees for comparison of specified records in order to establish the validity of an annuity claim. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1982 to the Department of Labor to carry out its functions under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of the Treasury to make annuity payments under this Act beginning with fiscal year 1982 and continuing until the last such payment is made.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise requirements for the exclusion of interest on mortgage subsidy bonds. Repeals provisions which allow tax-exempt status for such bonds if 95 percent of the mortgages financed by such issues are in compliance with stated requirements. Provides that a showing that the issuing authority has tried in good faith to satisfy all requirements will cure a failure to meet any particular requirement if such failure is corrected within a reasonable time after its discovery. Allows bondholders to rely upon an issuer's good faith covenant as to a compliance. Revises the new homeowner requirements to allow eligibility for bond-financed mortgages for persons who are residing in substandard housing or who have lost their homes because of natural disasters or governmental action. Changes the method of determining the average area purchase price for purposes of the purchase price requirements for bond-financed mortgages. Specifies that the average area purchase price shall not include residences which are not typically financed through normal real estate mortgage loans and that such price may be determined separately for new and previously occupied homes. Revises the arbitrage requirements to increase the amount by which interest rates on tax-exempt mortgage subsidy bonds may exceed the interest rates on mortgages financed with such bonds. Changes the method of determining the yield on an issue. Specifies that issuers are not required to dispose of any investment and realize a loss in order to satisfy arbitrage restrictions. Allows two or more qualified mortgage bond issues of a single issuer to be combined for purposes of determining compliance with arbitrage requirements. Permits issuers to maintain a reasonable reserve against investment losses and to allocate credits or payments between eligible mortgagors. Exempts mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration from certain mortgage assumption requirements. Includes energy impacted areas within the definition of targeted areas for purposes of the special treatment of targeted area residences. Repeals the requirement that the designation of areas of chronic economic distress be approved by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Limits the designation of areas of chronic economic distress to 25 percent of the geographic area within a State. Redefines statistical areas to include two or more statistical areas combined. Repeals the registration requirements for bond issues.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1981
Declares it the sense of the Congress that no legislation that would change the operations of the Guaranteed Student Loan Program before October 1, 1981, should or will be enacted. Prohibits the Secretary of Education from promulgating any rule which changes the operations of the Guaranteed Student Loan Program before October 1, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1981
Requires the Attorney General to adjust the status of specified numbers of Haitians and Cubans to that of refugees if: (1) the alien makes application within one year of enactment of this Act; and (2) the alien is admissible as an immigrant under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Applies the provisions of this Act to any alien who: (1) is a native or citizen of Haiti who first arrived unlawfully in the State of Florida on or after January 1, 1972, and before May 14, 1981; (2) is or has been within the jurisdiction of office number six of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; (3) is not resettled in any foreign country on the date of enactment of this Act; and (4) on such date does not have a lawful status in the United States or has the status of an alien paroled into the United States as a Cuban/Haitian entrant (status pending). Requires the Attorney General to establish a record of an alien's admission as a refugee as of the date of such adjustment. Provides that aliens granted refugee status under this act shall be treated for all purposes as aliens admitted as refugees under the Immigration and Nationality Act, including the purpose of providing assistance to States and public and nonprofit agencies for the provision of cash and services to such aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1981
Directs the Postmaster General to issue a postage stamp to honor the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Syria should cease and desist off-limits placement of surface-to-air missiles and firing at Israeli patrol jets.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1981
Virgin Islands Nonimmigrant Alien Adjustment Act of 1981 - Authorizes the Attorney General to adjust to permanent resident status alien workers and their dependents who have resided continuously in the Virgin Islands since June 30, 1975, if: (1) application for such adjustment is made within one year of enactment of this Act; (2) such persons were physically present in the Virgin Islands at the time of such filing; and (3) the worker is otherwise admissible as an immigrant. States that such status adjustments shall not reduce the number of available total or national immigrant visas. Authorizes the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Governor of the Virgin Islands, to limit the number of second preference immigrant visas issued to spouses or unmarried sons or daughters of aliens adjusted under this Act. Prohibits the filing of fourth (married sons or daughters) or fifth (brothers or sisters) preference immigrant petitions by aliens adjusted under this Act unless: (1) at the time of filing such person is physically present and has resided continuously in the United States for at least two years; or (2) a case of extreme hardship exists. Prohibits the admission of alien workers to perform temporary labor in the Virgin Islands. Establishes the Interagency Task Force on Virgin Islands Immigration to analyze the impact, including the possible need for Federal assistance, on the Virgin Islands of providing health, housing, education and other social services to persons admitted under this Act. Requires a report to be submitted to the President and the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act. Disbands the Task Force 60 days after transmittal of such report. Authorizes specified appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1981
Establishes the "Joe Louis Memorial Award." Requests the President to present the award, annually, to an athlete who best represents the fairness, courage, and determination symbolized by the former boxing champion. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1981
Directs the Postmaster General to issue a commemorative postage stamp to honor Roberto Clemente. Provides that such stamp shall be issued in the denomination used for first-class mail up to one ounce in weight and shall be placed on sale during the month of August.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should award, posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former boxing champion Joe Louis.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Army should place at the grave of Joe Louis in Arlington National Cemetery a plaque honoring his life and career.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income interest earned on certificates of deposit issued by banks, certain savings institutions, or credit unions. Requires such certificates to be issued between June 30, 1981 and July 31, 1982, to have a one year maturity, and to bear interest at a rate not greater than 70 percent of the average yield of U.S. Treasury bills. Limits the amount of such exclusion to $1,000 ($2,000 for joint returns).
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1981
Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to permit a bank, a bank holding company or a subsidiary thereof, or a savings and loan association to: (1) organize, sponsor, operate, or render investment advice to an investment company; or (2) underwrite, distribute, sell, or issue securities of any such investment company which is organized, sponsored, operated, controlled, or so advised by a bank, a bank holding company or a subsidiary thereof, or a savings and loan association. Requires officers and employees of banks or savings and loan associations who sell such securities to meet such standards with respect to training, experience, and sales practices as the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board shall prescribe.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1981
First-Year Capital Cost Recovery Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide an accelerated method of depreciation for depreciable personal property which is placed in service after December 31, 1980. Assigns such property to one of four classes based on present class lives under the Asset Depreciation Range (ADR) system. Allows 92.7 to 98.5 percent depreciation of such property in the current taxable year based upon the class to which it is assigned. Excludes certain types of property from accelerated depreciation treatment. Provides for depreciation of certain real property placed in service after December 31, 1980, according to the straight line method based on a useful life of 20 years. Specifies a 15 year useful life for low-income housing. Permits the expensing (i.e. deducting in current taxable year) of up to $25,000 of depreciable business assets, in lieu of current provisions allowing additional first year depreciation of such assets. Allows a 30 percent variance from class life for long-life public utility property and certain real property. Disqualifies any property depreciated under the terms of this Act from investment tax credit treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1981
Amends the Freedom of Information Act to prohibit the Attorney General from defending any Federal agency against a Freedom of Information action unless the Attorney General determines that: (1) there is an important public interest in the withholding of the information; and (2) disclosure of the information is demonstrably harmful.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1981
Comprehensive Social Security Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to finance the hospital insurance program partially through general revenues and provide a corresponding decrease in the hospital insurance tax rates on employees, employers, and self-employment income. Increases the old age, survivors and disability insurance tax rates on employees, employers, and self-employment income. Amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVIII of the Social Security Act to permit the Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund to make loans to the other Funds, prior to fiscal year 1991, whenever one of the funds falls below 25 percent of the amount of its disbursements for the 12 months preceding the borrowing. Provides for the repayment of such loans. Amends title II to revise the time periods which constitute base quarters and cost-of-living computation quarters for purposes of cost-of-living adjustments in title II benefits. Increases the minimum primary insurance amount and the number of years of coverage which may be counted in computing the primary insurance amount of an individual. Permits an individual to include as years of coverage, for purposes of computing the primary insurance amount, any calendar years, not to exceed ten, during which such individual was living with and caring for a child under the age of seven and such individual's wages or self-employment income was insufficient for credit with a year of coverage. Increases from $255 to $600 the amount of the lump-sum death payment in cases of deaths occurring on and after the enactment of this Act. Provides for a graduated increase in old age insurance benefits for individuals who delay retirement until after they reach or exceed age 65. Increases the amount of outside income which an individual receiving title II benefits may earn without a deduction from such benefits. Revises the method for computing an individual's average indexed monthly earnings for purposes of determining the amount of benefits to which such individual's survivors are or may become entitled. Increases the maximum benefit amounts for beneficiaries entitled to old age and survivors or disability insurance benefits. Eliminates the payment of child's insurance benefits on the basis of student status. Directs the Secretary of Education to make interest-free educational loans to individuals who demonstrate entitlement to child's insurance benefits on the basis of student status but for this Act. Specifies the terms and conditions of such loans. Requires that loan repayments be transferred to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for deposit in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Education for such loans. Increases the reduction in old age and survivors benefits for individuals who are entitled to such benefits before they reach retirement age.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1981
Savings and Value Equity Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers a refundable income tax credit equal to 50 percent of their qualified contributions to individual retirement accounts and certain employee retirement plans for a taxable year. Limits the amount of such credit to the lesser of $2,500 or the compensation includible in the taxpayer's gross income for the taxable year. Specifies that no credit may be allowed for such contributions made to the account of any individual who has reached age 59 1/2. Permits certain limited amounts of employer contributions to a simplified employee pension plan to qualify for the credit. Limits the amount of such credit for an individual who has paid any designated voluntary employee contributions to the lesser of $2,500 or the compensation includible in the taxpayer's gross income for the taxable year reduced by the amount of such designated voluntary employee contributions. Provides for adjustment to the limitations on such credit to reflect inflation. Increases the amount of the income tax deduction for contributions to an individual retirement account to the lesser of $2,500 or the compensation which is includible in the taxpayer's gross income. Requires an individual to be between the ages of 59 1/2 and 70 1/2 in order for contributions made to such individual taxpayer's retirement account to qualify for the retirement savings tax deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1981
Older Worker Employment Incentives Act of 1981 - Title I: Pension Accruals for Older Workers - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the prohibition against participation in a pension plan by employees who begin employment five years or less before the normal retirement age. Prohibits suspension or reduction, solely because of age, of an employee's benefit accrual, in the case of a defined benefit plan, or of employer contributions to the employee's account, in the case of a defined contribution plan. Provides that the amendments made by this title shall apply with respect to plan years beginning after December 31, 1982. Title II: Amendments to the Social Security Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Disability and Survivors Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) a graduated increase in delayed retirement credit; and (2) a liberalization of the earnings test, for taxable years ending after the date of enactment of this Act. Title III: Amendments to Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the amount of credit for new employees to provide for an income tax credit for the employment of lower-income older workers. Makes such credit applicable to amounts paid or incurred after December 31, 1980, in taxable years ending after such date. Title IV: Age Discrimination in Employment - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to eliminate provisions permitting age discrimination in employment where age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business. Removes the existing 70-year upper age limit to which the discrimination prohibitions apply, thus extending coverage to all individuals who are at least 40 years of age. Eliminates provisions permitting mandatory retirement at age 65 for bona fide executives or high policymakers entitled to specified benefits. Amends specified laws relating to Government organization and employees to eliminate provisions which permitted maximum-age entrance requirements for Federal employees. Eliminates provisions relating to automatic separations or mandatory separations based on a prescribed retirement age for Federal employees or employees of the government of the District of Columbia. Sets forth conforming amendments to the District of Columbia Public Education Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate a mandatory retirement at age 70 requirement for tax court judges and to permit such judges who have attained age 70 to retire at any time after serving for ten years or more. Amends specified law relating to the Federal Judicial Center to eliminate a mandatory retirement at age 70 requirement for the Director of the Center and to permit retirement at age 70 upon the request of the Director. Amends a specified law relating to the appointment and tenure of U.S. magistrates to eliminate a mandatory retirement at age 70 requirement for such magistrates. Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to repeal mandatory retirement provisions for participants in the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System. Provides that specified annuities under such System commence at age 60, or at separation for participants who separate after reaching age 60. Amends a specified law relating to Lighthouse Service officers and employees to eliminate compulsory retirement at age 70 for such officers and employees. Amends the Coast and Geodetic Survey Commissioned Officers' Act of 1948 to eliminate provisions relating to: (1) transfer of officers to the retired list; (2) separation from service; (3) effective date of retirements and separations; (4) lump-sum payment upon separation from service; and (5) retirement of officers for age. Eliminates the duty of a personnel board to make selections and recommendations for retirement of officers. Amends the Public Health Service Act to eliminate mandatory retirement at age 64 for commissioned officers of the Service and to permit such officers to be retired at such age upon their own request. Removes the authority of the Secretary to retire such officers after completion of specified periods of active service (retains the officers' right to be retired after such periods upon their own application). Amends the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, to eliminate mandatory retirement at age 70 for the Comptroller General and the Deputy Comptroller General and to permit such officials to retire at such age upon their own request. Amends the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to eliminate the requirement that the Chief Judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands be under 70 years of age. Amends the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement Act of 1964 for Certain Employees to repeal provisions for mandatory retirement of participants in the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System. Declares that the provisions of, and amendments made by, this title shall apply only to individuals employed on the effective date of this title.
![Official portrait of Rep. Ford, Harold E. [D-TN-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000261_200.jpg)