United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1993
Neighborhood Infrastructure Improvement and Inner City Job Creation Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to make grants to eligible administrative entities for programs to provide employment opportunities to unemployed individuals through payments for labor and related costs associated with repair and renovation of essential community facilities. Gives grant priority to administratve entities that assure giving priority to low-skilled workers as program participants. Requires that eligible participants have been unemployed for at least 15 weeks and have sought employment during that period. Makes secondary school-age individuals (16 to 20 years old) eligible only if they have not attended a secondary school at any time during the previous six months. Gives priority to individuals who have exhausted or are not eligible for unemployment insurance benefits, particularly those who have been unemployed for the longest periods. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 1993
Directs the Secretary of Education to make a grant to Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, to establish the Margaret Walker Alexander National African-American Research Center on its campus in recognition of, and to commemorate, the literary contributions of Margaret Walker Alexander. Requires the application for the grant to ensure that the Center will serve as a national center for the study, research, and teaching of African-American literature and history, and as a repository for papers and memorabilia relating to the lives of individuals noted for their work in African-American literature and history. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1993
National African American Museum Act - Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution the National African American Museum (the Museum) to be operated as a center for scholarship and museum training and a location for education, research, events, and collection and display of items and materials relating to the life, art, history, and culture of African Americans. Authorizes the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution (Board of Regents) to plan, design, reconstruct, and renovate the Arts and Industries Building to house the Museum. Establishes a Board of Trustees of the Museum (Board of Trustees) in the Smithsonian Institution. Sets forth various duties of the Board of Trustees, including: (1) establishing and supporting cooperative programs with other museums and institutions; and (2) reporting annually to the Board of Regents. Directs the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to appoint a Director to manage the Museum (as well as appointing five other Museum employees). Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1993
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal criminal code to impose civil or criminal penalties upon persons who intentionally prevent other individuals from entering or exiting a medical facility. Permits aggrieved individuals to obtain appropriate relief through civil actions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1993
Jefferson Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of Thomas Jefferson and his home, Monticello. Mandates that all surcharges received from the sale of such coins be paid to the Jefferson Endowment Fund, and to the Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the coin program shall be self-sustaining and that its administration should result in no net cost to the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1993
Local Partnership Act of 1993 - Establishes a revenue sharing program of payments to local governments. Sets forth the framework for the use and timing of payments and for adjustments. Establishes for the Department of Housing and Urban Development a Local Government Fiscal Assistance Fund and authorizes appropriations to finance it. Describes qualifying criteria for and conditions to be met by local governments seeking payments under the program. Requires payments be withheld in cases of noncompliance. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, in accordance with specified formulae, to determine fund allocations to each State for further allocation to local and territorial governments. Permits State variation of certain local government allocations. Sets forth special rules governing adjustments in local government allocations. Specifies the information to be used in making allocations under the program. Requires: (1) public hearings on proposed uses of program payments in relation to the local government's budget; and (2) public disclosure of information on proposed payment uses and budgets both prior to the hearing and after adoption of the budget. Prohibits discrimination under a local government program or activity on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or religion, if such program or activity is paid for with funds provided under this Act. Prescribes procedures for violations and judicial review of sanctions. Sets forth provisions for enforcement by the Attorney General of prohibitions, civil actions by persons adversely affected by prohibited practices, audits of local government finances, investigations by the Secretary of violations, and other review, reporting, and compliance requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1993
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) release all humanitarian, development, and economic assistance that was authorized and appropriated by the Congress for Nicaragua in FY 1992 and 1993; (2) direct development-related assistance to small farmers and businesses, maternal and child health care programs, education programs for children, and programs that will assist Nicaragua in strengthening institutions that promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law; and (3) encourage the democratically elected Government of Nicaragua to make progress in resolving property disputes, investigating and prosecuting human rights violations, and reducing military expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1993
Declares that the President should promptly seek the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly with the support of the United States on November 20, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the targeted jobs credit permanent. Increases the maximum age requirement for employment of economically disadvantaged youth from 23 years to 25 years. Establishes economically disadvantaged veterans as members of targeted groups for purposes of the credit.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
New Columbia Admission Act - Declares the State of New Columbia (presently, the District of Columbia) to be a State of the United States of America. Admits New Columbia into the Union on an equal footing with the other States in all respects. Reserves Federal title to certain lands and property in the National Capital Service Area. Directs the Governor to report to the Congress each fiscal year on the effects on the revenues and expenditures of the State because of the presence of the Federal Government's seat within or adjacent to it. Prohibits the State from changing any provision of its Constitution concerning height limitations on buildings without the consent of the Congress. Declares that nothing in this Act or the Constitution or laws of the State may be construed to permit it to refuse to allow an individual to serve as a qualified registered elector of the State solely because the individual resides in the National Capital Service Area. Sets forth election protocol for popular ratification of statehood. Provides for election of one member of the House of Representatives as well as two Senators. Maintains the laws that were territorially in effect. Continues any lawsuits already pending in District of Columbia courts. Establishes a Statehood Transition Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Federal Employees Political Activities Act of 1993 - Prohibits an employee from using or attempting to use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of any election. Prohibits the use of official authority to intimidate, threaten, coerce, or influence: (1) any individual for the purpose of interfering with the right to vote or not to vote for any candidate or measure in any election; (2) any person to give or withhold any political contribution; or (3) any person to engage, or not to engage, in any form of political activity. Prohibits an employee from: (1) giving or offering to give a political contribution to any individual either to vote or to refrain from voting; (2) soliciting, accepting, or receiving a political contribution to vote or refrain from voting; or (3) giving or handing over a political contribution to a superior. Prohibits an employee from soliciting, accepting, or receiving a political contribution: (1) from another employee (or a member of another employee's immediate family) with respect to whom the employee is a superior; or (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal employee, official, or contractor. Prohibits an employee from getting involved with political contributions with any person who: (1) has, or is seeking to obtain, contractual or other business relations with the employing agency; (2) conducts operations regulated by that agency; or (3) has interests which may be substantially affected by the performance of the employee's official duties. Prohibits an employee from engaging in political activity: (1) while on duty; (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal employee or official; (3) while wearing a uniform or official insignia identifying the office or position of the employee; or (4) while using any vehicle owned or leased by the Government. Exempts certain high level political appointees from such prohibitions if the costs associated with the political activity are not paid for by money derived from the Treasury. Authorizes leave without pay or accrued annual leave to an employee who is a candidate, upon request, to allow such employee to engage in activities relating to that candidacy. Applies this Act to postal employees and employees of the Postal Rate Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Provisions Relating to the Medicare Program Subtitle A: Durable Medical Equipment Subtitle B: Medicare Secondary Payer Title II: Customs Officer Pay Reform Title III: Availability and Use of Death Information Under the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program Title IV: PBGC Report on Employers with Underfunded Plans Title V: Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 Subtitle A: Taxpayer Advocate Subtitle B: Modifications to Installment Agreement Provisions Subtitle C: Interest Subtitle D: Joint Returns Subtitle E: Collection Activities Subtitle F: Information Returns Subtitle G: Modifications to Penalty for Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax Subtitle H: Awarding of Costs and Certain Fees Subtitle I: Other Provisions Subtitle J: Form Modifications; Studies Title VI: Other Internal Revenue Code Provisions Subtitle A: Extension of Authority for Undercover Operations; Cash-Transaction Reports Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Exempt Organizations Title VII: Prohibition of Misuse of Department of the Treasury Names, Symbols, etc. Federal Program Improvement Act of 1993 - Title I: Provisions Relating to the Medicare Program - Subtitle A: Durable Medical Equipment - (Sec. 1001) Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to set forth requirements concerning durable medical equipment (DME) supplier number issuance and renewal, and certificates of medical necessity and uniform national coverage and utilization criteria for certain DME. (Sec. 1001) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to study and report to the Congress on payment methodologies for: (1) DME under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for disabled Medicare beneficiaries; and (2) prosthetic devices and orthotics and prosthetics under such part that do not require custom fitting and adjustment. (Secs. 1002 through 1007) Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) revise procedures for processing Medicare DME claims; (2) place restrictions on certain marketing and sales activities of DME suppliers; (3) absolve Medicare beneficiaries from liability for payment of DME received from suppliers without suppliers numbers; (4) mandate fee schedule adjustments for amounts determined not to be inherently reasonable; and (5) revise formulae for payments for ostomy supplies, tracheostomy supplies, urologicals, surgical dressings, and tens devices. (Sec. 1008) Requires the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to collect data on variations in DME supplier costs for which payment may be made under Medicare part B for a report to specified congressional committees which shall also contain HCFA recommendations for a geographic cost adjustment index for DME suppliers. (Sec. 1008) Requires the Comptroller General (CG) to report to specified congressional committees on supplier DME costs. Subtitle B: Medicare Secondary Payer - (Sec. 1101) Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (OBRA-1989) to provide that certain Medicare secondary payer provisions regarding the treatment of employment in a religious order shall apply to items and services furnished before the effective date of such provisions in secondary payer cases not identified as of that date. (Sec. 1101) Makes changes to aid in the: (1) identification of Medicare secondary payer situations; and (2) recovery of erroneous Medicare payments from primary payers. Title II: Customs Officer Pay Reform - (Sec. 2001) Revises the pay system for U.S. customs service inspectors and provides canine enforcement officers overtime compensation in the same manner applicable to inspectors. (Secs. 2003 and 2005) Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 with respect to customs user fee account reports and reimbursements. (Sec. 2005) Requires, for certain annual reports to specified congressional committees, a CG review of expenditures from the Customs User Fee Account and Treasury recommendations for improving the operation of user fee laws in financing inspectional services. Title III: Availability and Use of Death Information Under the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program - (Sec. 3001) Amends SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) to: (1) encourage States to enter into contracts to provide death information to the Social Security Administration; (2) authorize the Administration to redisclose such information to other Federal, State, and local agencies; and (3) restrict the use of social security numbers in motor vehicle registration and driver's license programs by States which do not provide for the exchange of death information. Directs the Secretary to study and report to specified congressional committees on possible improvements in the current methods of gathering and reporting death information by Federal, State, and local governments. Title IV: PBGC Report on Employers with Underfunded Plans - (Sec. 4001) Requires the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to report annually to the Congress on employers with underfunded pension plans. Title V: Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 - Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 - Subtitle A: Taxpayer Advocate - (Sec. 5001) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate to: (1) assist taxpayers in resolving problems with the IRS; (2) identify areas in which taxpayers have such problems; (3) propose changes in IRS administrative practices to mitigate such problems; and (4) identify appropriate legislative changes to mitigate such problems. (Sec. 5001) Replaces the IRS' Office of the Ombudsman with the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate. (Sec. 5002) Revises the terms of a Taxpayer Assistance Order. Subtitle B: Modifications to Installment Agreement Provisions - (Sec. 5101) Requires prior notification to taxpayers under an installment agreement to pay tax liability before altering, modifying, or terminating such an agreement. (Sec. 5102) Provides for administrative review of denials of requests for, or terminations of, installment agreements. Subtitle C: Interest - (Sec. 5201) Changes the rules for the abatement of interest attributable to IRS errors and delays. (Sec. 5202) Extends the period for which interest will not be imposed after notice and demand for payment, if such payment is less than $100,000. Subtitle D: Joint Returns - (Sec. 5301) Allows the disclosure of collection activities to an individual requesting such information in the case of a joint return where the individual is no longer married to, or no longer resides in the same household as, the other joint filer. (Sec. 5302) Removes limitations on filing a joint return after filing separate returns without full payment of tax. Subtitle E: Collection Activities - (Sec. 5401 and 5402) Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in certain cases, to: (1) withdraw a notice of a lien; (2) return property that has been levied upon; and (3) offer compromises in civil or criminal cases. (Sec. 5403) Requires: (1) prior notification to the taxpayer that the taxpayer is under examination; and (2) an explanation of the process (except in specified cases). (Sec. 5404) Increases the dollar limit on the recovery of civil damages for unauthorized collection actions. (Sec. 5405) Revises provisions with respect to a designated summons concerning the standard of review and notice requirements for issuance. Subtitle F: Information Returns - (Sec. 5501) Requires payee statements to provide the telephone number of the person providing payment. (Sec. 5502) Establishes civil damages for fraudulent return filing. (Sec. 5503) Requires the Secretary to present reasonable and probative information concerning a deficiency in an information return by a third party, when such return is disputed in court by a taxpayer who has cooperated fully in the matter with the Secretary. Subtitle G: Modifications to Penalty for Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax - (Sec. 5601) Establishes requirements for preliminary notices of failure to pay over tax. (Sec. 5602) Specifies the circumstances under which a person shall not be liable for any penalty for failure to collect and pay over tax. (Secs. 5603 and 5604) Requires the Secretary to: (1) disclose certain information where more than one person is liable for a penalty; and (2) ensure that IRS employees are aware of their responsibilities under the tax depository system, the circumstances under which they may be liable for penalties, and reporting responsibilities. (Sec. 5604) Exempts certain unpaid, volunteer board members of tax-exempt organizations from collection penalties. Subtitle H: Awarding of Costs and Certain Fees - (Sec. 5701) Allows a substantially prevailing taxpayer to file a motion for a court order for the disclosure of all relevant records held by the IRS. (Sec. 5702) Increases the limit on attorney fees. (Sec. 5703) Provides that any failure to agree to an extension of time for the assessment of any tax shall not be taken into account in determining whether a prevailing party has exhausted all administrative remedies. Subtitle I: Other Provisions - (Secs. 5801 and 5803) Revises provisions regarding the: (1) required content of tax due, deficiency, and other notices; and (2) retroactivity of IRS regulations and rulings. (Sec. 5802) Provides for the treatment of substitute returns made by the Secretary. (Sec. 5804) Requires notice to the taxpayer of the inability to associate any payment with any outstanding tax liability. (Sec. 5805) Allows damages for the unauthorized disclosure and enticement of disclosure of taxpayer information. Subtitle J: Form Modifications; Studies - (Secs. 5901 through 5903) Directs the Secretary to: (1) ensure that taxpayers are aware of permission to pay tax in installments, extensions of time for payment of tax, and compromises of tax liability; (2) improve procedures for taxpayers to notify the Secretary of name and address changes; and (3) include in a specified publication a section on the rights and responsibilities of divorced individuals. (Secs. 5911 through 5914) Requires the Secretary to report to the congressional tax-writing committees on: (1) a pilot program for appeals of certain enforcement actions; (2) a study of ways to assist taxpayers with special needs to comply with IRS laws; (3) the scope and content of the IRS taxpayer-rights education program for its officers and employees; and (4) cases involving complaints about misconduct of IRS employees. (Secs. 5915 and 5916) Requires the CG to study and report to such committees on notices of deficiency and the accuracy and clarity of commonly used IRS forms, notices, and publications. Title VI: Other Internal Revenue Code Provisions - Subtitle A: Extension of Authority for Undercover Operations; Cash-Transaction Reports - (Sec. 6001) Extends the authority for IRS undercover operations. (Sec. 6002) Provides for the disclosure to Federal, State, local, and foreign governments of information on tax returns relating to cash transactions. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Exempt Organizations - (Secs. 6101 and 6102) Requires: (1) certain organizations to disclose their nonexempt tax status (or face specified civil penalties); and (2) tax-exempt organizations to make available for public inspection copies of their annual tax returns. Title VII: Prohibition of Misuse of Department of the Treasury Names, Symbols, Etc. - (Sec. 7001) Prohitits misuse of Treasury Department names, symbols, emblems, abbreviations, and initials, and specifies civil penalties for any such misuse.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Freedom of Choice Act of 1993 - Provides that a State may not restrict the right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy: (1) before fetal viability; or (2) at any time, if such termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. Allows a State to impose requirements medically necessary to protect the life or health of such women. Declares that this Act shall not be construed to prevent a State from: (1) requiring minors to involve responsible adults before terminating a pregnancy; and (2) protecting individuals from having to participate in abortions to which they are conscientiously opposed.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Flight Attendant Duty Time Act - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish limitations on duty time for flight attendants. Requires the Secretary to issue final regulations by a specified deadline. Prohibits any air carrier from operating an aircraft using a flight attendant who has been on duty in excess of specified hours or who has had less than a specified number of hours of rest if such regulations have not been promulgated by a certain time. Permits modification of the specified hours of duty if the Secretary determines such modification is in the public interest and submits a copy of the modifying regulations to certain congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to direct the Administrator of General Services to prescribe regulations to ensure the participation (except in specified circumstances) of at least five historically Black colleges and universities and nonprofit organizations owned and controlled by Black Americans in research and development (R&D) activities conducted with Federal funds by executive agencies. Outlines the requirements to be imposed on executive agencies through such regulations, including the requirement that each such agency reserve a specified percentage of its FY 1994 through 1997 appropriations for R&D activities to be conducted by the Black colleges it must designate under this Act as federally funded R&D centers. Increases such set-aside on a graduated basis for such fiscal years. Requires each recipient of such set-aside to pay a specified percentage of it to the Parren J. Mitchell Institute for Business Education for entrepreneurial and capital formation programs. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress annually on the activities of executive agencies in carrying out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Requirements for Leave Title II: Leave for Civil Service Employees Title III: Commission on Leave Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions Title V: Coverage of Congressional Employees Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 - Title I: General Requirements for Leave - Establishes certain requirements for family and medical leave for permanent employees. (Sec. 101) Makes employees eligible for such leave if they have been employed, by the employer from whom leave is sought, for at least: (1) 12 months; and (2) 1,250 hours of service during the previous 12-month period. (Excludes from such coverage: (1) employees at worksites at which the employer employs less than 50 persons, if the total number of employees of that employer within 75 miles of that worksite is less than 50; and (2) Federal officers and employees covered under title II of this Act.) (Sec. 102) Entitles employees to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period because of: (1) the birth of their child; (2) the placement of a child for their adoption or foster care; (3) their care of a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health condition; or (4) their own serious health condition which makes them unable to perform the functions of their position. Conditions such leave for the birth or placement of a child as follows: (1) the entitlement ends 12 months after the birth or placement; and (2) such leave may not be taken intermittently unless employee and employer agree otherwise. Allows intermittent leave for necessary medical treatment of an employee or family member. Allows the employer to require a temporary transfer to an equivalent alternative position that better accommodates such intermittent leave. Allows all leave under this title to: (1) be taken on a reduced leave schedule, upon agreement with the employer; and (2) consist of unpaid leave, except under specified conditions when substitution of certain types of paid leave may be elected or required. Does not require an employer to provide paid sick or medical leave in any situation in which the employer would not normally provide any such paid leave. Requires employees to: (1) give at least 30 days' notice of the need for leave to which they are entitled under this Act, when foreseeable; and (2) make a reasonable effort to schedule medical treatment or supervision so as not to disrupt unduly the employer's operations, subject to approval of the health care provider. Allows limitation of the dual aggregate leave entitlement to 12 weeks in any 12-month period, in the case of spouses employed by the same employer, if such leave is for the birth or placement of a child or for the care of a sick parent. (Sec. 103) Sets forth conditions of certification for leave entitlements under this Act. (Sec. 104) Requires restoration of the employee to his or her position or an equivalent position upon return from such leave. Allows an employer to deny such restoration to certain highly compensated employees, under specified conditions (the highest paid ten percent of the employer's employees within a 75-mile radius of a facility; the denial must be necessary to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to the employer's operations). Requires maintenance of employee health benefits during such leave. (Sec. 105) Prohibits interference with or discrimination against employees exercising rights under this title. (Sec. 106) Sets forth the investigative authority of the Secretary of Labor under this title. (Sec. 107) Provides for enforcement of this Act. Provides for administrative and civil actions. Makes an employer who violates this title's prohibitions against interference or discrimination liable for damages in the amount of: (1) any wages, salary, employment benefits, or other compensation denied or lost; (2) (where such compensation has not been denied or lost) any actual monetary losses, such as the cost of providing care; (3) interest on such losses; and (4) liquidated damages under certain conditions. Makes such employers also liable for appropriate equitable relief, including, without limitation, employment, reinstatement, and promotion. Sets forth provisions for attorney's fees, limitation of actions, and injunctions. (Sec. 108) Sets forth special rules concerning employees of local educational agencies and of private elementary and secondary schools. (Sec. 109) Sets forth requirements for posting notice and for fines. (Sec. 110) Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out this title. Title II: Leave for Civil Service Employees - (Sec. 201) Entitles eligible civil service employees to family and temporary medical leave for specified periods. Allows up to 12 administrative workweeks of leave without pay (or substituted paid leave) in any 12-month period for: (1) family leave (i.e., leave because of the birth or placement of a child or care of a sick spouse, child, or parent); or (2) temporary medical leave for a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of their position. Sets forth: (1) requirements for employees to give prior notice; (2) certification provisions; (3) protections for job position and health insurance benefits; and (4) prohibitions against coercion. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to prescribe regulations for this title which are consistent with the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Labor under title I of this Act. Title III: Commission on Leave - (Sec. 301) Establishes the Commission on Leave. (Sec. 302) Requires the Commission to conduct a comprehensive study of: (1) existing and proposed leave policies; (2) the potential costs, benefits, and impact on productivity of such policies on employers; and (3) alternative and equivalent State enforcement of this Act with respect to employees of local educational agencies and private schools. Requires the Commission to report on such study to the Congress within two years after the Commission first meets. (Sec. 306) Terminates the Commission within 30 days after its report to the Congress. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - (Sec. 401 and Sec. 402) Sets forth the effect of this Act on other laws and existing employment benefits. (Sec. 403) Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting more generous leave policies. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out this title (except those provisions applicable to the Senate) within 60 days. Title V: Coverage of Congressional Employees - (Sec. 501) Applies the rights and protections established under specified provisions of title I of this Act to Senate employees. Makes specified provisions of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 applicable, with certain exceptions. Provides that allegations shall be considered by the Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices or another entity designated by the Senate. Requires such Office to ensure that Senate employees are informed of their rights under this Act. (Sec. 502) Applies the rights and protections under title I of this Act to employees of the House of Representatives, except for the exemption concerning highly compensated employees. Requires that the remedies and procedures under the Fair Employment Practices Resolution be applied in administering such coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families to conduct a continuing comprehensive study and review of the problems of children, youth, and families.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1992
Prohibits the proposed sale of F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia described in the certification transmitted to the Congress on September 14, 1992 (transmittal number 92-42), unless the President certifies to the Congress that such country renounces and no longer observes the boycott of Israel by Arab countries.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Women in the Armed Forces Commemorative Coins Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue coins to commemorate the women who have served in the armed forces of the United States; and (2) transfer the surcharges received from coin sales to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation and endow and dedicate the Women in the Armed Forces Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 10 August 1992
Pension Funding Improvement Act of 1992 - Title I: Amendments to Pension Plan Funding Requirements - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise minimum funding standards for pension plans. Revises the additional funding requirements for pension plans that are not multiemployer plans to provide for an underfunding reduction requirement and solvency maintenance requirement. Title II: Required Security for Certain Plan Amendments - Amends IRC and ERISA to increase required funding percentages and required security under provisions for pension plan termination insurance. Applies such required funding and security provisions to multiemployer plans, as well as to other pension plans. Applies specified criminal penalties to violations of such requirements. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to submit separate reports to the Congress setting forth alternative increases in premiums that would be required for the assets of the single-employer program (established under ERISA provisions for pension plan termination insurance) to equal or exceed such program's current and expected liabilities by 2002. Amends ERISA to require inclusion in annual PBGC reports of actuarial evaluations of pension benefit guaranty funds for the next five, ten, twenty, and thirty years. (Currently, inclusion of such evaluations for the next five years only is required.) Requires such evaluations to set forth alternative premium schedules to assure that PBGC assets equal or exceed its liabilities during such periods. Authorizes the CBO to transmit a separate report analyzing and commenting upon the actuarial evaluation (and premium schedules) prepared by the PBGC, for any fiscal year the CBO deems appropriate. Authorizes the PBGC to require certain plan sponsors or members of a sponsor's controlled group to provide it with records, documents, or other information necessary to determine liabilities and assets of plans covered by ERISA plan termination insurance provisions, or the financial condition of sponsors or members of sponsors' controlled groups maintaining such plans. Applies such information requirements to a plan if: (1) its underfunding exceeds $10,000,000; (2) it has more than 2,000 participants; or (3) it has been granted minimum funding waivers in excess of $1,000,000. Treats all plans maintained by the same sponsor (or any member of such sponsor's controlled group) as one plan for purposes of such information requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 10 August 1992
Local Partnership Act of 1992 - Establishes a revenue sharing program of payments to local governments. Sets forth the general framework for the use and timing of payments and for adjustments. Establishes in the Treasury a Local Government Fiscal Assistance Trust Fund (trust fund), with the Secretary of the Treasury as the personal trustee, and authorizes appropriations to finance it. Describes qualifying criteria for and conditions to be met by local governments seeking payments under the program. Requires payments withheld in cases of noncompliance. Requires the Secretary, in accordance with specified formulae, to determine the amount from the trust fund to be allocated to each State for further allocation to county, municipal, and township local governments as well as to Indian tribes and Alaskan native villages. Sets forth special rules governing allocations to territorial governments. Permits State variation of certain local government allocations. Sets forth special rules governing adjustments in local government allocations, including a limit on allocations to local government units based on a specified formula. Specifies the information to be used in making allocations under the program. Requires public hearings on proposed uses of program payments in relation to the local government's budget. Requires public disclosure of information on proposed payment uses and proposed budgets of local governments both prior to the hearing and after adoption of the budget. Prohibits discrimination under a local government program or activity on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex if such program or activity is paid for with funds provided under this Act. Lists additional prohibitions applicable to such programs or activities. Prescribes procedures for: (1) instituting administrative proceedings for violations of such prohibitions; (2) suspending and terminating payments; and (3) judicial review of such sanctions. Sets forth provisions providing for: (1) enforcement by the Attorney General of such prohibitions; (2) civil actions by persons adversely affected by prohibited practices; (3) independent audits of local government finances; (4) investigations by the Secretary of possible violations of this Act; (5) reviews by the Comptroller General of activities of the Secretary, State governments, and local government units to determine compliance with this Act; (6) annual reports by the Secretary to the Congress on both the trust fund and the administration of the payment program; and (7) annual reports by local govermental units to the Secretary on program payments.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit an operator of a licensed cotton warehouse who uses the accrual method of accounting from being required to accrue any amounts to be received for processing or storing cotton at such warehouse until such amounts are actually received. Provides that, if any deferred amount is received during a taxable year, then the tax liability of the taxpayer shall be increased by an interest charge with respect to such deferred amount. Requires the interest charges to be taken into account in computing the amount of any deduction allowable for interest paid or accrued.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Children's Initiative - Family Preservation Act of 1992 - States that titles I through V of this Act may be cited as the Family Preservation Act of 1992 - Title I: Child Welfare Services - Amends part B (Child Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to create a capped entitlement program to provide child welfare services designed to strengthen and preserve families. Provides for allotments, reallotments, and payments to States of entitlement funds. Requires use of part of such funds to develop or expand specialized child welfare service programs for families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires uses of remaining funds to develop or expand certain family and child service programs. Repeals provisions for incentive payments to States which maintain a foster care inventory, information system, and case review system; but requires States to provide such protections and other services designed to keep families together or reunify them, or to place children for adoption, with a legal guardian, or in some other planned, permanent living arrangement. Requires States to submit the following types of reports on child welfare services and expenditures: (1) pre-expenditure reports; (2) post-expenditure reports; and (3) comparative financial contributions reports. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transmit to specified congressional committees annual summaries of the information in such comparative financial contributions reports. Requires such information to be made available to the public. Reserves entitlement funds for grants to State court systems to assess and improve procedures in child welfare cases in carrying out parts B and E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of SSA title IV. Sets forth application requirements and formulas for determining the amount of such grants for FY 1994 through 1998. Directs the HHS Secretary to submit interim and final reports to the Congress on the information obtained from assessments conducted with such grants and the impact of such grant program on State court procedures and functions. Requires each State to compile periodically a detailed directory of programs designed to keep families together or reunify them or place children permanently, identifying which of such programs provides specialized child welfare services to families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires States to report on measures taken to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Title II: Foster Care And Adoption Assistance - Amends SSA title IV to add a new part C, Comprehensive Service Projects to grant States flexibility and resources to develop comprehensive and coordinated services designed to: (1) preserve and strengthen families with children at risk of placement outside their homes; (2) reunite children with their families expeditiously if an out-of-home placement is found to be necessary; and (3) place children in adoptive homes or other permanent arrangements in a timely fashion if reunification with their families is not appropriate. Permits any State to apply to the HHS Secretary for permission to: (1) conduct a comprehensive service project in a selected area or areas; and (2) suspend certain child welfare services and foster care and adoption assistance requirements with respect to State activities in such area or areas during the project. Sets forth application requirements and administrative provisions for such projects. Prohibits the HHS Secretary from requiring as a condition of approval of a project application: (1) the State to select any area or areas in which to conduct the project; or (2) the project to comply with any requirements not specified in the project authorization. Sets forth those requirements with which such a project must comply. Provides for determining the expenses for which a State might properly seek reimbursement, for purposes of calculating such grant amount. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to increase such grant amount, to the extent appropriate, by taking specified factors into account. Sets forth requirements for notification to States of grant amounts, and for grant payments in equal quarterly installments. Prohibits a State from carrying out such a project in a manner that impairs the entitlement of any child to: (1) the foster care benefits he or she would have receive if the HHS Secretary had approved the State plan and had not authorized the State to conduct such a project; or (2) any other benefit to which the child is legally entitled. Deems a State to have in effect an approved foster care and adoption assistance plan during the period in which it conducts such a project for purposes of State plan requirements under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of SSA title IV. Requires States to report annually on project funds expended to the HHS Secretary and the Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Provides for administrative remedies for unsuccessful projects. Provides for project termination. Makes abandoned children entering foster care eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Makes technical revisions to the foster care maintenance payments program and the adoption assistance program to expand the removal from home requirement to include removal from legal custody. Provides for retroactive application of such new requirement under the adoption assistance program. Makes children whose adoption has been set aside by a court eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Establishes a respite care program for foster parents with children who have special needs. Limits the expenses eligible for reimbursement under such program. Expands the definition of children with special needs, for purposes of the adoption assistance program, to include: (1) those children for whom information is known and available about their genetic or social history indicating a high risk of medical conditions or physical, mental, or emotional handicaps which makes it reasonable to conclude that they cannot be placed for adoption without providing part E adoption assistance or Medicaid (SSA title XIX) medical assistance; and (2) those children that have been adopted, that were under the care and responsibility of the State agency responsible for administering the State's part E programs immediately before adoption, and that have a mental, physical, or emotional handicap that either existed before the adoption but was not diagnosed until afterwards, or first manifests itself after the adoption but is congenital or was caused beforehand. Extends to relatives (as well as foster parents) who are prospective adoptive parents, and with whom the child has significant emotional ties while in their care, the exception to the requirement that an effort be made to place special needs children with appropriate adoptive parents without providing adoption or Medicaid assistance. Requires each State to submit to the HHS Secretary the factors and conditions it uses to identify children with special needs for purposes of the adoption assistance program, and any modifications to such factors and conditions. Directs the HHS Secretary to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and report to the Secretary and the Congress on the implementation of specified requirements, under State plans for foster care and adoption assistance, that reasonable efforts be made: (1) before placement of a child in a foster home, to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from the child's home; and (2) to make it possible for the child to return to the child's home. Provides Federal coverage of 90 percent of State costs in developing and installing certain statewide mechanized data collection and information retrieval systems. Covers 50 percent of State costs for operation of such systems. Provides that all State expenditures for development, installation, and operation of such systems shall be treated as necessary for proper and efficient administration of the State plan, without regard to whether the systems may be used with respect to foster or adoptive children other than those on behalf of whom payments may be made for foster care maintenance or adoption assistance. Reduces, after three years, from 90 to 50 percent the Federal matching payment for development and installation of such systems. Defers a deadline for implementation of automated systems until one year after certain regulations are promulgated. Directs the Secretary to establish a work group to advise on planning and implementation of the system to be used for collection of data relating to adoption and foster care in the United States. Requires the State plan to provide for: (1) a triennial review of the amounts paid as foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance to assure their continuing appropriateness; and (2) a report to the HHS Secretary on the results. Sets forth requirements concerning dispositional hearings to determine the final status of a foster child. Revises the time frame for judicial determinations on voluntary placements. Sets forth case plan requirements for placement of children in out-of-State foster care. Requires annual review, with the child present, of the status of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires States to collect data on the numbers of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires a State, in order to receive payments for expenditures after FY 1994 for foster care maintenance payments made with respect to children placed in foster care outside the State, to conduct and submit a study to the HHS Secretary, by the end of such fiscal year, identifying the number and common characteristics of such children and the reasons why they were not placed in foster care in the State. Provides for the treatment of assets of youth participating in the independent living program. Eliminates the ceilings on Federal foster care payments to States and the State's authority to transfer unused foster care funds to child welfare services programs. Directs the HHS Secretary to: (1) establish an advisory committee; and (2) issue final regulations for training of staff of agencies responsible for administering foster care and adoption assistance programs, and for training of foster care and adoptive parents. Directs the Secretary annually to publish information, on a State-by-State basis, on expenditures for, and the operation of, the Child Welfare Services program, the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program, and Comprehensive Service Projects. Amends SSA title IV to add a new part G, Child Welfare Review System. Directs the HHS Secretary to establish such system to: (1) review each State child welfare program to assess whether the requirements of the Act are being carried out; (2) impose financial penalties in cases of substantial failure to comply; and (3) provide technical assistance to any such program. Sets forth provisions relating to effects of noncompliance, suspension and rescission of financial penalties, and administrative and judicial review. Requires that all State child welfare programs be reviewed at least once by the end of FY 1997. Prohibits the Secretary from reducing or withholding any payment, or seeking any repayment from any State under part B or E, by reason of a determination made in connection with specified reviews or audits for certain periods. Prohibits suspension of payments with respect to any claim for reimbursement 30 days after the HHS Secretary receives the quarterly statement of expenditures that contains the report of the claim. Provides that within ten months after the Secretary takes any action to suspend payment with respect to such a claim, the Secretary shall: (1) determine the allowability of the claim; or (2) if unable to make such a determination, make payment with respect to the claim, subject to a later determination of allowability. Title III: Social Services Block Grant - Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to authorize increased appropriations for title XX programs. Provides for the allocation to tribal organizations of program funds otherwise allotted to the State in which the Indians represented by such an organization reside. Title IV: Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Activities - Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to require the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to establish an Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Requires the Commission to collect and assess specified types of information in order to identify cost-effective approaches to protect and enhance the physical, mental, emotional, and financial well-being of children and their families. Directs OTA to report annually to the Congress on the Commission and its assessment. Requires the Commission to conduct, through contracts with independent research organizations, the following research and evaluation projects: (1) the evaluation of child welfare service programs, including intensive family preservation programs; (2) foster care evaluations; (3) longitudinal child welfare data bases, and studies of child welfare population dynamics; and (4) comprehensive service projects evaluations. Requires the Commission to study child separation guidelines. Directs the HHS Secretary to conduct the following research and evaluations: (1) a study (under contract with an independent research organization) to assess the prevalence and nature of risks to the safety of employees of child welfare systems; and (2) a three-year study (under contract with an organization with demonstrated appropriate experience) to examine methodologies for measuring the workloads of providers of child welfare services and community mental health services. Directs the HHS Secretary to make grants to States or localities for child welfare demonstration projects concerning abandoned child permanent placement. Directs the HHS Secretary to authorize eligible institutions to conduct demonstration projects to train eligible individuals to deliver culturally sensitive and bilingual child welfare services in U.S. areas that border on Mexico. Directs the HHS Secretary to make grants to eligible institutions to conduct projects to train eligible institutions to deliver culturally sensitive and bilingual welfare services in urban centers which have a high proportion of historically unserved or underserved populations. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to make grants to State or local government agencies to conduct demonstration projects designed to: (1) develop and implement innovative recruitment or retention strategies for trained staff in public and private nonprofit agencies working with children and adolescents at risk of being placed in foster care; and (2) test the effect of joint training programs for the staff of child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice agencies, and for judicial personnel and judges. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to conduct demonstration projects designed to test the feasibility of eliminating income and resource requirements respecting foster care and adoption assistance payments. Directs the HHS Secretary to provide technical assistance to States for: (1) interpreting and implementing parts B, C, and E; (2) disseminating information on innovative child welfare agencies; (3) correcting problems identified through Federal audits and reviews and carrying out corrective action plans under part E; (4) implementing the foster care and adoption data collection system; and (5) addressing other matters identified by the HHS Secretary. Title V: Miscellaneous Human Resources Amendments - Amends the AFDC program to give States the option of using retrospective budgeting without monthly reporting under AFDC. Increases the amount of stepparent income disregarded under AFDC. Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to extend demonstration projects for evaluating model procedures for reviewing child support awards. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to make technical corrections relating to human resource and income security provisions. Title VI: Childhood Hunger Relief - Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act - Subtitle A: Ensuring Adequate Food Assistance - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to remove the excess shelter deduction cap for purposes of food stamp program eligibility. (Sets forth transitional caps through 1996.) Eliminates food stamp reductions for households reapplying for program reinstatement within 30 days. Excludes 100 percent (currently only a specified portion) of third party payments for transitional housing for the homeless from consideration as program income. Increases funding for the nutrition assistance program in Puerto Rico. Excludes general assistance vendor payments from consideration as program income. Excludes the income of high school students from consideration as program income. (Current law excludes income until a student's eighteenth birthday.) Subtitle B: Promoting Self-Sufficiency - Excludes from consideration as program income: (1) the first $50 a month received as child support; and (2) child support payments to non-household members. Increases annually the fair market value limit of vehicles that program recipients may own. Subtitle C: Simplifying the Provision of Food Assistance - Permits related adults living in the same household to apply for separate program benefits under specified conditions. Repeals provisions authorizing benefit reductions due to insufficient funding. Subtitle D: Commodity Distribution to Needy Families - Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to provide for increased allotments in FY 1993 for commodity purchases under the emergency food assistance program. Subtitle E: Implementation and Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for provisions of this title. Title VII: Funding - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a surtax on individuals with incomes over $1,000,000.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Supports the planting of 500 redwood trees from California on the northwest coast of Spain in commemoration of the quincentenary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World. Designates such trees as a gift to the people of Spain made in the name of the people of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should seek the consent of the Senate to the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations on November 20, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1992
Health Care for Every American Act of 1992 - Title I: Establishment of A State-Based National Health Insurance Program; Universal Eligibility; Enrollment - Establishes the State-Based National Health Insurance Program. Entitles every U.S. resident who is a citizen, national, or lawful resident alien to services. Provides for the eligibility of certain nonimmigrants and other individuals. Requires each State program to provide for: (1) an enrollment mechanism, including a process for automatic enrollment at birth or immigration; and (2) issuance of a universal health insurance card to be used for identification and claims processing. Provides for portability of benefits. Ends, after a specified date, benefits and payments under: (1) titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; (2) provisions of Federal law relating to Federal employees' health benefits; (3) provisions of Federal law relating to the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS); and (4) certain veterans' medical benefits. Title II: Comprehensive Benefits, Including Preventive Benefits and Benefits for Long Term Care - Entitles enrolled individuals to payment, subject to certain limitations and requirements, for comprehensive acute, preventive, mental health, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, long term care, and plan of care services (major service categories). Prohibits: (1) deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments for comprehensive acute and preventive services; (2) imposing a charge, except as provided under this Act, for covered services; and (3) insurance which duplicates payment for covered items or services. Permits State programs and employers to provide additional benefits. Lists covered services in each major service category, specifying matters such as limits, cost-sharing requirements, and exclusions. Mandates a report to the Congress on the effects of the cost-sharing under specified provisions of this Act and the optional State charge for non-enrollment with comprehensive health service organizations required under title V of this Act. Title III: Provider Participation - Mandates a participation agreement between a State health insurance program and a provider addressing specified elements, including prohibitions on discrimination and charging for covered services other than as authorized under this Act. Specifies requirements in order to be considered a qualified provider, including for health care practitioners, institutional and facility-based providers, community-based primary services providers, independent pathology laboratories, independent radiology services, providers of outpatient drugs and devices, and providers of covered transportation (including ambulance) services, in most cases requiring that they be licensed, meet State law requirements, and meet the requirements of this Act. Requires national and authorizes State minimum standards to assure service quality. Defines a comprehensive health service organization (CHSO) as an organization that, in return for a capitated amount, furnishes, arranges for, or pays for a full range of health services to a population in a specified service area. Makes all eligible persons in that area eligible to enroll in the organization, subject to the organization's capacity. Sets forth CHSO requirements. Title IV: Administration - Establishes the National Health Insurance Standards Board to develop policies, procedures, guidelines, and requirements to carry out this Act. Authorizes the Board to waive provisions of this Act to accommodate demonstration projects. Mandates uniform reporting requirements and standards and certain studies. Requires the Board to recommend to the Congress one or more proposals for the treatment of Federal health care facilities. Mandates advisory committees on: (1) benefits; (2) payments and cost containment; (3) quality and utilization review; and (4) primary care and the medically underserved. Requires the Board to provide for a National Health Advisory Council. Mandates submission by each State (or, for neighboring States which so choose, by each region) of a plan for a State (or regional) health insurance program providing services under this Act. Sets forth plan requirements. Provides for sanctions for failure to meet the requirements, including placing the State program in receivership under the jurisdiction of the Board. Prohibits a State, by intention or as an unstated consequence of budget allocations, from restricting timely access to medically necessary services or permitting potentially life threatening queues. Mandates appointment in each State of: (1) a State Health Advisory Council; and (2) a quality control mechanism. Allows States to use fiscal agents. Requires each State program to establish district health advisory councils covering distinct geographic areas to: (1) advise the State; (2) receive and investigate complaints by eligible persons and by providers; and (3) carry out district management and planning. Requires each district health advisory council to provide assistance and technical support to community organizations and nonprofit agencies submitting funding applications under specified provisions of the Public Health Service Act. Requires all Department of Health and Human Services activities to be complementary to this Act. Title V: National Health Insurance Budget; Payments; Cost Containment Measures - Subtitle A: Budgeting and Payments to States - Requires the Board to annually establish a national health insurance budget specifying the total Federal and State expenditures for covered services, set as the sum of the capitation amounts under this title plus Federal administrative expenses. Sets a national health insurance spending ceiling according to a specified formula involving: (1) the increase in the gross national product; (2) the Board's estimate of the increase in health care expenditures due solely to changes in the age or other risk characteristics of the U.S. population; and (3) percentage points set, for the first four years, by this Act and thereafter set by the Board. Requires each State program to annually establish a State health insurance budget, with a separate account for graduate medical education expenses. Provides for the computation of individual and state capitation amounts. Entitles each State with an approved program to receive specified Federal payments involving the State capitation amount and the Federal contribution percentage. Requires the Board to establish a formula for the Federal percentage for each State, considering the State's per capita income and revenue capacity and other relevant economic indicators as appropriate. Requires each State program to provide for a process and standards regarding the approval of capital purchases or leases for new or renovated facilities and for equipment valued over an amount specified by this Act or by the Board. Allows a State program, where a CHSO is available, to impose a charge for individuals who are enrolled with the CHSO for the receipt of covered services under this Act. Requires that the charge be assessed relative to income and specifies miniumum and maximum charges. Subtitle B: Payments by States to Providers - Requires direct payment by a State program to institutions and facilities for operating expenses under an approved negotiated annual prospective global budget. Allows institutions and facilities to raise private funds for new facilities, major renovations, and equipment, declaring that the expenditure of the private funds does not obligate the State program to provide for continued support for the expenditures. Entitles every independent health care practitioner to payment for the provision of covered services either, at the practitioner's election, by a fee-for-service method or a capitation method. Allows a State program, through an agreement with an organization representative of independent practitioners or otherwise, to pay individual practitioners through an annual salary, hourly payments, or other method under which aggregate payments do not exceed the amounts that would otherwise be made. Requires the Board to establish models and encourage State programs to implement alternative methodologies incorporating global fees for related services or for a basic group of services furnished to an individual over a period of time. Requires the State program to establish, after negotiations, a prospective payment schedule based on a relative value scale and conversion factors established by each State and providing for the application of expenditure targets. Allows State Programs to have practitioner-specific adjustments reflecting practitioner use patterns and to publicly disclose the use patterns. Requires payment to: (1) CHSOs to be determined by the State based on a global budget or on the basic capitation amount determined by the State program on the basis of the average estimated expenditures for an enrollee with the same actuarial characteristics as the enrollee; (2) community based primary health services to be based on a global budget or be made on an individual patient basis; and (3) care managers to be made directly by each State program pursuant to payment schedules, based on negotiations, capitation, or other methods, under an annual prospective budgeting system. Requires the Board to establish a list of approved prescription drugs and biologicals the board determines necessary for health, employability, or self-management and eligible for coverage. Allows the Board to exclude ineffective, unsafe, or over-priced products where better alternatives are available. Requires the Board to determine product prices. Authorizes the Board to conduct price negotiations, on behalf of State health programs, with drug manufacturers and distributors. Requires each State program to provide for payment for a drug furnished by an independent pharmacy based on the drug's cost to the pharmacy plus a dispensing fee according to a schedule set by the State program. Requires the Board to establish a list of approved durable medical equipment and therapeutic devices and equipment (including eyeglasses, hearing aids, and prosthetic appliances) the Board determines necessary for health, employability, or self-management and eligible for coverage. Requires the Board to determine product prices. Authorizes the Board to conduct price negotiations, on behalf of State health programs, with equipment and device manufacturers and distributors. Allows the Board to exclude ineffective, unsafe, or over-priced products where better alternatives are available. Mandates determination by the State program of the amount of payment for other covered services in accordance with payment methodologies specified by the Board. Requires the Board to establish, in addition to payment otherwise provided in this title, model payment methodologies and other incentives that promote the provision of services in medically underserved areas. Authorizes the Board to waive required payment methodologies as necessary to allow alternative payment schemes or conduct experiments and demonstration projects. Subtitle C: Malpractice Reform - Authorizes the Board to award grants to State programs for the development and implementation of programs for medical malpractice reforms. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates a study of medical malpractice, including regarding: (1) ineffective or unnecessary medical testing and practices; (2) the occurrence of malpractice and malpractice awards; (3) the adequacy of existing licensing and discipling procedures in preventing malpractice; and (4) the reasonableness of malpractice insurance premiums and rate-setting practices. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Mandatory Assignment and Administrative Provisions - Declares that payments for benefits under this Act constitutes payment in full, requires the furnishing entity to accept the payment as such, and prohibits the entity from accepting any payment other than from the State program, except for authorizd cost-sharing. Provides for sanctions in the same manner as under specified provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Requires a State program to establish: (1) a timely and administratively simple procedure for reimbursement to all providers under this Act; and (2) an appeals process regarding provider payments. Title VI: Financing - Creates the National Health Insurance Trust Fund. Appropriates to the Fund all: (1) tax increases from this Act; and (2) amounts that would otherwise have been appropriated to carry out titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, the Federal employees health benefit program, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). Transfers to the Fund any amounts remaining in the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Directs the Secretary of the Tresury to: (1) develop a formula for determining and collecting National Health Insurance premiums from individuals and employers to finance covered services; (2) determine the aggregate premiums for each taxable year; and (3) collect premiums from individuals using a formula with specified characteristics, including that it be income-based and progressive. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to collect the premiums from employers by: (1) increasing the highest marginal corporate income tax rate; (2) increasing the employer and self-employment hospital insurance tax; and (3) imposing a surtax on regular and minimum taxes. Declares that such taxes shall be increased as specified by the Secretary. Mandates a method for employers to pay premiums otherwise payable by employees. Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to exclusions from gross income to define "accident or health insurance" to mean an approved State program under this Act. Removes provisions relating to amounts paid to highly compensated individuals under a discriminatory self-insured medical expense reimbursement plan. Disallows deductions for employer expenses for health care services, whether or not covered under this Act. Declares that this does not disallow a deduction for National Health Care premiums. Allows health insurance costs (currently, 25 percent of health insurance costs) of self-employed individuals to be deducted. Removes provisions ending the deductibility on a specified date. Defines "medical care," for provisions relating to individual deductions for medical and dental expenses, to mean National Health Insurance premiums, cost-sharing, and other premiums for coverage under a State program. Ends, after a specified date, the health insurance credit for coverage which includes at least one child. Makes each State responsible for establishing a financing program for the implementation of the State program. Entitles each State with a State program approved by the Board to funding from the Board in the amounts provided under specified provisions of this Act. Title VII: Promotion of Primary Health Care; Development of Health Service Capacity; Programs to Assist the Medically Underserved - Subtitle A: Promotion and Expansion of Primary Care Practitioners - Makes the Board responsible for certain activities toward a national goal of having, ten years after enactment of this Act, 50 percent of the physicians in medical residency programs being trained as primary care physicians, including coordinating graduate medical education policies and overseeing State program residency expenditures. Requires the Board to establish a method of applying the national goal to program goals for each medical residency program. Provides for enforcement, against State programs that fail to meet the goal, through reducing: (1) medical residency payments; and (2) the indirect portion of extramural biomedical and behavioral research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Requires the Board to provide for an Advisory Committee on Graduate Medical Education. Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish in NIH the Office of Primary Care and Prevention Research. Establishes in that Office: (1) the Coordinating Committee on Research on Primary Care and Prevention Research; and (2) the Advisory Committee on Research on Primary Care and Prevention Research. Requires the NIH Director to: (1) establish a data system for the collection, storage, analysis, retrieval, and dissemination of information regarding primary care and prevention research conducted or supported by the national research institutes; and (2) establish and operate a program to provide information on research and prevention activities of the institutes relating to such research. Authorizes appropriations for the Office. Mandates priority, in providing financial assistance under certain provisions relating to health research and teaching facilities and training of professional health personnel, to applicants, a substantial percentage of whose graduates are (or are expected to be) providing primary care to a substantial number of medically underserved individuals. Places an additional requirement on residency programs that they provide significant experience in providing: (1) primary care to such individuals; or (2) such services in ambulatory health facilities. Subtitle B: Grants for Expansion of Availability of Primary Care Services through Health Centers - Part 1: Primary Care Service Expansion Grants - Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate grants to expand the availability of comprehensive primary health services in medically underserved areas. Authorizes appropriations. Part 2: Reduction in Medical Malpractice Liability for Community Health Centers - Includes entities receiving Federal funds under provisions relating to migrant health centers, community health centers, health services for the homeless, or (as added by this Act) grants for expansion of the availability of primary care services (and officers, employees, or contractors of such entities who are licensed health care practitioners) in the coverage of provisions regulating civil actions for injury resulting from medical or related functions against commissioned officers or employees of the Public Health Service. Subrogates to the United States any insurance claim such an entity or person has. Prohibits grants under such provisions unless the applicant has: (1) implemented policies and procedures to assure against malpractice; and (2) reviewed the professional credentials, claims history, and other information regarding its licensed health care practitioners; and (3) no history of claims against it under such provisions relating to officers and employees of the Public Health Service, or has cooperated with the Attorney General in defending against such claims and has taken corrective action. Empowers the Attorney General, if certain conditions are met, to determine that an individual practitioner shall not be deemed a Public Health Service employee for purposes of these provisions. Prohibits hospitals from denying admitting privileges to an otherwise qualified health care provider who is an officer, employee, or contractor of such an entity. Mandates withholding from the amounts appropriated for such entities an annual estimate of the amount of all claims under provisions relating to such civil actions. Subtitle C: Expansions in the National Health Service Corps - Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program for physician and midlevel practitioner placements at entities receiving grants for expansion of the availability of primary care services; and (2) a number of contracts (for such repayments and scholarships under the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program) sufficient to ensure the placement of a specified number of additional primary care physicians and a specified percentage increase in midlevel practitioners in health professional shortage areas. Defines "midlevel practitioner" to include certified nurse midwives, certified nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and similar nonphysician health care practitioners.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1992
International Refugee Protection Act of 1992 - States that: (1) the Congress affirms that U.S. obligations under certain international refugee agreements have applied to U.S. actions with respect to persons outside U.S. territorial boundaries; and (2) the United States shall refrain from the involuntary return of refugees to their home country from boundaries outside the United States or from the territorial waters of such home country, with specified exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1992
Declares that the Congress acknowledges and appreciates the commitment, devotion, and sacrifices of present and former military families. Designates November 23, 1992, as National Military Families Recognition Day.
![Official portrait of Rep. Ford, Harold E. [D-TN-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000261_200.jpg)