United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that, in seeking to reduce the Federal deficit, any proposal which would diminish, defer, or otherwise adversely affect periodic cost-of-living adjustments in Federal retirement benefits should be uniformly applied.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act to require that business-education-labor partnership program funds be awarded on a competitive basis solely for technology and technical education programs, including: (1) apprenticeships and internships in industry; (2) new equipment provision; (3) cash contributions to technology and technical education programs; (4) teacher internships or teacher training; and (5) employer entry into the classroom. Requires States to: (1) encourage small business participation by providing 60 percent of funds for each such partnership with small business; (2) give preference to partnerships that coordinate with local chambers of commerce; (3) provide incentives for coordination of partnerships with related efforts; and (4) ensure equitable distribution of funds between partnership programs in rural and in urban areas. Directs the Secretary of Education to prescribe policies, including allowable expenses, for technology and technical education activities under such partnership programs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1989
Medicare Equity Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase existing Federal excise taxes on tobacco products, except the tax on pipe tobacco. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to appropriate any revenue: (1) resulting from the tobacco tax increase to the Federal Catastrophic Drug Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplemental Medical Insurance Trust Fund; and (2) credited to the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Account. Revises the method of determining the supplemental Medicare premium rate for pre-1994 tax years.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to include the costs of securing and maintaining a guide, hearing, or service dog, or another animal trained to assist a disabled individual, as allowable medical expenses for the purpose of income-related calculations to determine eligibility for the food stamp program. Amends Federal law to: (1) include as a benefit to certain veterans the provision of guide, hearing, or service dogs or other animals trained to assist disabled individuals; (2) permit guide, hearing, or service dogs, or other animals trained to assist a disabled individual, accompanying a disabled individual to be admitted to public buildings and other properties owned by the United States; and (3) permit certain common carriers to continue to establish a special rate for transportation of a disabled individual and accompanying attendant when they are accompanied by a dog or another animal trained to assist the disabled individual. (Current law covers only seeing-eye dogs for the blind.)
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Educational Excellence Act of 1989 - Title I: Improving Elementary and Secondary Education - Part A: Presidential Merit Schools - Presidential Merit Schools Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to establish the Presidential Merit Schools Program to recognize and reward public and private elementary and secondary schools that have made substantial progress in: (1) raising student educational achievement, especially in reading, writing, and mathematics; (2) creating a safe and alcohol- and drug-free school environment; and (3) reducing the dropout rate. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1993. Authorizes State educational agencies (SEAs) to designate as a Merit School any public or private elementary or secondary school nominated through procedures established by the SEA. Sets forth requirements for selection criteria established by the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) and by SEAs. Provides that each Merit School will be awarded a Presidential Certificate of Merit, as well as funds to further its educational program. Prohibits Federal, State or local reduction of other assistance to a school because it receives such an award. Part B: Magnet Schools of Excellence - Magnet Schools of Excellence Act of 1989 - Amends ESEA to establish the Magnet Schools of Excellence Program of grants to support public elementary or secondary schools that: (1) offer the highest quality instruction in an academic or vocational discipline or create a unique and effective learning environment; (2) are open to students from beyond the immediate school attendance area; and (3) are capable of attracting students from a variety of backgrounds. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1993. Sets forth criteria for selection of applications. Limits such grants to any one school to no more than two years, and requires satisfactory progress in order to receive the grant for the second year. Prohibits Federal, State, or local reduction of assistance to a school because it receives such an award. Part C: Alternative Certification for Teachers and Principals - Alternative Certification of Teachers and Principals Assistance Act of 1989 - Amends ESEA to establish a program of assistance for Alternative Certification of Teachers and Principals. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Repeals this Part as of October 1, 1990. Part D: Presidential Awards for Excellence in Education - Amends ESEA to establish the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Education Program to recognize and reward outstanding elementary and secondary school teachers. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1993. Makes any full-time public or private elementary or secondary school teacher of academic or vocational subjects eligible for such an award. Makes teachers of religion (other than religion as an academic discipline) ineligible. Allows various individuals, groups, or institutions to nominate teachers for such awards. Requires State panels to select award recipients using criteria approved by the Secretary. Sets the amount of such an award at $5,000, and allows the recipient to use it for any purpose. Part E: Effective Date - Sets the effective date of the amendments made by this title. Title II: National Science Scholars - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish the National Science Scholars Program to recognize student excellence and achievement in the physical, life, and computer sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1993. Authorizes the Secretary to award scholarships to outstanding students selected as National Science Scholars by the President. Allows students who satisfy certain requirements to receive such scholarships for the first year of undergraduate study and, if they satisfy additional requirements, additional scholarships to cover the remaining undergraduate years. Directs the Secretary to appoint a panel of experts to recommend academic achievement criteria for use in the nomination of scholars. Sets forth requirements for initial and continuation awards. Sets the scholarship amount at $10,000 for an academic year, but reduces such amount based on cost of attendance and other grant or scholarship assistance, and adjusts for insufficient appropriations. Requires that scholarship recipients, to the extent they are otherwise qualified, be given priority consideration for federally financed summer employment in research and development centers. Title III: Other Programs - Amends the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 to establish a Drug-Free Schools Urban Emergency Grants program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1993. Directs the Secretary ot use program funds to award a small number of one-time grants to local educational agencies in urban areas with the most severe drug problems to assist them in developing and implementing comprehensive approaches to eliminating such problems. Amends HEA to authorize appropriations for FY 1990 through 1993 for special awards to historically Black colleges and universities. Makes institutions that receive such awards ineligible for other specified awards, and makes institutions that do not receive them eligible for those other awards.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Amends the Federal criminal code to prescribe penalties for the unauthorized use of the name Visiting Nurse Association or Visiting Nurse Service or of the name or insignia of the Visiting Nurse Association of America.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1989
Designates the week of October 22 through October 29, 1989, as Drug-Free America Week. Encourages every American to wear red during such week to symbolize a commitment to a drug-free lifestyle.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Family Educational Opportunity Act of 1989 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove from the computation of expected family contribution in the determination of need for assistance under the title IV (Student Assistance) Pell Grant program and other title IV student assistance programs the following assets: (1) the family's principal place of residence; (2) a family farm on which the family resides; or (3) a small business substantially owned and managed by a member or members of the family.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1989
Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Revision Act of 1989 - Delays, for one year, the implementation of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988, except for provisions of such Act expanding benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1989
Wetlands Conservation Amendments Act of 1989 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to revise the definition of wetland for land conservation purposes to mean land that supports hydrophytic (water) vegetation under current land use practices. Provides for agricultural committees in each State to set penalties for misuse of wetland based on the presence or absence of intent. Exempts certain previously farmed land from loss of benefits due to misuse of wetlands.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Tobacco and Nicotine Health and Safety Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to prohibit the sale of harmful tobacco products to minors and the distribution of such products through free samples or discount coupons. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to regulate the form, manner, and location of the sale of tobacco products in States with insufficient enforcement to require compliance. Requires labels of such products to comply with the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act and the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act, to state that Federal law prohibits sale to minors, to identify the maker or distributor, to detail contents, including any additives, and to disclose tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other constituents. Allows the Secretary: (1) by regulation, to require manufacturers to provide additional information to consumers through labeling, inserts, or other means; and (2) to modify existing warning labels so long as the modifications do not weaken the message. Prohibits such products from containing specified constituents, including additives and nicotine, in violation or in the absence of identified levels. Requires manufacturers, packagers, or importers to provide the Secretary with a list of additives used in tobacco products. Directs the Secretary to establish public disclosure requirements for such additives. Requires the Secretary to test and establish the tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other harmful constituent levels for each brand of tobacco product before such product may be lawfully sold. Authorizes the Secretary to make such information public. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees on the use of tobacco additives and the levels of harmful constituents in tobacco products. Amends the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act to replace warnings of "Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide" with warnings of "Smoking is Addictive. Once you start you may not be able to stop." Deems any product which contains nicotine but does not meet a specified definition of tobacco products to be a drug under specified provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Declares that nothing in specified provisions of this Act shall supersede, repeal, or modify any requirement of the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act and the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Acid Deposition Control Act of 1989 - Title I: Stationary Sources - Amends the Clean Air Act to require each Governor to submit to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for approval a two-phased plan establishing emission limitations and compliance schedules for sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emissions from fossil fuel fired electric utility steam generating units in the State. Requires reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions by 1994 (phase I) and reductions in oxides of nitrogen and further reductions in sulfur dioxide by 1998 (phase II). Directs each Governor to submit to the Administrator for approval an emissions limitations plan for such units, other than electric utilities' units, requiring both sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emissions reductions by 1998. Requires the Administrator to conduct and update an annual inventory of sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emissions from stationary sources. Directs the Administrator to identify the total statewide potential reductions in such emissions and to transmit such information to the State. Requires each Governor to submit to the Administrator a plan for establishing emission limitations from stationary sources of industrial process emissions to achieve such State's potential reductions by 1998. Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress by June 30, 1994, on the reductions achieved during phase I, granting the Congress an opportunity to legislate by the start of 1995 against the implementation of phase II. Grants States an opportunity to modify disapproved plans. Establishes emissions standards and Administrator-promulgated plans for States without an approved plan. Requires units in such States to submit a compliance plan and schedule to the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to impose fees on the generation and importation of electric energy if a utility is eligible for Federal subsidies to cover rate increases attributable to emission reduction requirements. Limits such fee to a maximum of 1/2 mill per kilowatt hour and makes it inapplicable to the generation of electric energy within the United States by hydroelectric or nuclear power. Prohibits the application of such fees after December 31, 1997. Prescribes civil penalties for violations in connection with such fees. Establishes the Acid Deposition Control Fund to provide for subsidies to electric utilities to cover rate increases attributable to emission reduction requirements. Prohibits the payments of subsidies to any utility, unless the State's Governor has assured that such rate increases are: (1) equivalent for residential electric utility ratepayers throughout the State; and (2) made level over the period during which such requirements are in effect. Prohibits costs for any technological system of emission reduction from being attributed to such requirements, unless such system meets specified conditions. Authorizes the Administrator to provide financial assistance to the owners or operators of stationary sources to promote the use of innovative technologies to control sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other emissions from fossil fuels covered under the Clean Air Act. Sets forth eligibility and evaluation requirements. Allows State plans to provide for the use of innovative technology if contingent emission limitations are included in such plans. Authorizes the Administrator to impose fees on the generation of electric energy in such States to promote the use of innovative technologies. Prescribes civil penalties for violations in connection with such fees. Directs the Administrator to revise standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides for electric utility steam generating units burning bituminous or subbituminous coal. Requires the Administrator to promulgate standards for such emissions from nonelectric utility units which are new sources over a certain capacity. Title II: Emissions from Mobile Sources - Establishes emission standards for: (1) oxides of nitrogen from passenger cars and trucks manufactured after model year 1990; and (2) hydrocarbons from trucks manufactured after model year 1991. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations setting a maximum percentage for the sulfur content of motor vehicle diesel fuel. Prohibits any manufacturer or processor of diesel fuel from selling or introducing into commerce any fuel not in compliance with such regulations after January 1, 1991. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations to require the use of either hydrocarbon control technology by motor vehicles manufactured after model year 1991, or gasoline vapor recovery of hydrocarbon emissions emanating from the fueling of motor vehicles, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Directs the Secretary of Commerce, in tabulating the decennial census for the apportionment of Representatives in Congress, to provide for the inclusion of: (1) members of the uniformed services and civilian employees assigned to posts of duty outside the United States and their dependents residing at or near such posts; and (2) citizens pursuing postsecondary education programs outside the United States. Excludes from the census any alien not lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions to provide the Secretary with census information on their students who are studying outside the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Waste Reduction Act - Makes it the national policy to reduce or prevent pollution at its source whenever feasible. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish an office within the EPA which will be independent of the EPA's single-medium program offices and have the authority to review and advise such offices on their activities to promote a multi-media approach to source reduction. Directs the Administrator to develop and implement a strategy to promote source reduction. Identifies several review, coordination, outreach, and organizational actions that the Administrator must take as part of such strategy. Requires the Administrator to: (1) make matching grants to States for programs promoting the use of source reduction techniques by businesses; and (2) establish a Source Reduction Clearinghouse to compile information generated by States receiving grants on management, technical, and operational approaches to source reduction. Requires that such information be made available to the public. Requires filings of annual toxic chemical release forms required under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 to include toxic chemical source reduction and recycling reports for toxic chemicals which are the subject of such filings. Includes in such reports information, on a facility-by-facility basis, as to: (1) the amounts and disposition of each toxic chemical; (2) the source reduction practices used with respect to such chemicals; (3) measurements of changes from past to anticipated levels of chemical reduction and recycling; and (4) the techniques used to identify source reduction opportunities. Makes such information available to the public. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment and biennially thereafter on the results of actions taken to implement source reduction strategies. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Medicaid Frail Elderly Community Care Amendments of 1989 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to permit States to provide Medicaid coverage of community care for functionally disabled elderly individuals. Defines a functional disability as Alzheimer's disease or the inability, due to physical or cognitive impairment, to perform at least two daily living activities. Defines a covered community care setting as a nonresidential setting or a residential setting in which more than two unrelated adults reside and personal services are provided. Requires that community care be provided to each client in accordance with an individual community care plan (ICCP) prepared and periodically reviewed and revised by a community care case manager on the basis of a comprehensive functional assessment of a client's needs conducted by an interdisciplinary team before his or her receipt of care and at least annually thereafter. Sets a ceiling on Medicaid payments to States for community care. Reduces Federal Medicaid payments to States that reduce their Medicaid community care expenditures below their FY 1989 expenditures for such care. Requires that such care meet minimum requirements, to be developed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, regarding client rights and the quality of such care. Makes the requirements imposed on nursing facilities regarding patient's rights and facility safety and sanitation applicable to settings in which community care is provided. Requires that community care settings: (1) disclose persons having an ownership or control interest in the setting; and (2) exclude a person from such interest if he or she has been excluded from the Medicaid program or had an interest in a community care setting repeatedly found to have provided substandard care. Makes the: (1) Secretary responsible for certifying that State community care providers and settings comply with Medicaid requirements; and (2) States responsible for certifying that other community care providers and settings comply with Medicaid requirements. Requires that providers and settings be certified annually. Bases community care setting certification on an annual, unannounced survey. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a protocol for conducting surveys; and (2) conduct sample surveys of community care settings, within two months of State surveys, to test the adequacy of State surveys. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a special survey of a setting or a review of a provider when there is reason to question its compliance with this Act. Prohibits the use of surveyors who have an interest in the provider or setting being surveyed. Requires States and the Secretary to investigate complaints against providers or settings concerning violations of this Act's requirements. Requires each State to provide, through the State agency responsible for the certification of such providers and settings, for the receipt, review, and investigation of allegations of client neglect and abuse, and of misappropriation of client property by providers. Requires that: (1) certain information regarding providers and settings and their compliance with this Act's requirements be made available to the public; and (2) State Medicaid fraud and abuse control units be given access to provider or setting survey and certification information. Authorizes the Secretary or States to terminate a community care provider's participation in the Medicaid program and to impose a civil monetary penalty for failure to meet this Act's requirements. Sets forth the Secretary's responsibilities relating to community care requirements. Requires that State Medicaid payment rates for community care be reasonable and adequate to meet the costs of providing such care efficiently, economically, and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards. Prohibits the coverage of substandard community care, penalties imposed for such care, and community care furnished by family members.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Campaign Expenditure Limitation Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to establish limitations on expenditures in elections for the House of Representatives. Prohibits a candidate from making expenditures from personal funds or immediate family funds which, in the aggregate, exceed $25,000. Prohibits a candidate from making expenditures which, in the aggregate, exceed $200,000. Prohibits any person from making independent expenditures which, in the aggregate, exceed $2,500. Prohibits a candidate from accepting contributions from nonparty multicandidate political committees or from separate segregated funds which, in the aggregate, exceed $50,000. Makes it the duty of the court of appeals and the Supreme Court to expedite judicial review of the constitutionality of any provision of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Eliminates post-1968 service in the National Guard as a prerequisite to civil service retirement credit for former National Guard technicians. Amends the National Guard Technicians Act of 1968 to eliminate post-1968 service as a prerequisite for National Guard technicians for receipt of credit in the determination of length of Federal civil service for purposes of leave, Federal employees' death and disability compensation, group life and health insurance, severance pay, tenure, and status. Sets forth rules for applying provisions of this Act to affected individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (the Act) to increase the minimum wage per hour from $3.35 in 1989 to: (1) $3.65 in 1990; (2) $3.95 in 1991; and (3) $4.25 in 1992 and thereafter. Increases the tip credit under the Act from 40 percent to 45 percent for 1990 and to 50 percent for 1991 and thereafter. (The tip credit deems the amount paid to a tipped employee, for minimum wage purposes, to be increased by an amount determined by the employer, but not by an amount in excess of the specified percentage of the applicable minimum wage rate). Increases the small business exemption by revising the definition of an enterprise engaged in commerce, for purposes of coverage under the Act ("the enterprise test"). Exempts from such coverage enterprises whose annual gross volume of sales or business is less than $500,000 (currently $362,500), effective in 1989. Requires employers who were covered in 1988, but who are exempt under the new threshold, to continue to pay the $3.35 per hour minimum wage. Allows employers to pay newly hired workers 80 percent of the minimum wage or $3.35, whichever is higher, for up to 180 days. Prohibits any displacement of other employees because of such lower rate of pay.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to provide a grant to support international business education programs, especially in relation to modern Asia, at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Kangaroo Protection Act - Provides that any administrative exception made under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 permitting the importation of kangaroos, their parts, and products shall not apply to kangaroos removed from the wild in accordance with an Australian management plan.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Recognizes the National Fallen Firefighters' Memorial at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, as the official national memorial to volunteer and career firefighters who die in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
General Aviation Standards Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (with respect to aviation accident investigations) to apply such Act, with specified exceptions, to any action for damages for harm arising out of a general aviation accident brought against a manufacturer, owner, or operator of a general aviation aircraft, or a person who supports or maintains such aircraft or any other person or governmental entity. Establishes guidelines for uniform standards of liability of general aviation manufacturers for such accidents. States that all actions for harm arising out of a general aviation accident shall be governed by the principles of comparative responsibility. Establishes, with specified exceptions, a limitation of actions period of 12 years from delivery of aircraft or harm-causing part to the purchaser for general aviation civil liability brought against a general aviation manufacturer. Declares admissible as evidence certain income tax and payroll tax liability for purposes of establishing financial harm arising out of a general aviation accident. Permits the award of punitive damages if a claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the direct result of conduct manifesting conscious, flagrant indifference to safety. Establishes a two-year limitation of actions period for actions arising out of such an accident. Confers original jurisdiction upon the Federal district courts, concurrently with State courts, for all civil actions for harm arising out of a general aviation accident. Provides procedures for removal from State to Federal district courts of such actions. Declares that this Act supersedes any State law regarding recovery of damages for harm arising out of a general aviation accident. Declares the intent of the Congress that sanctions be strictly enforced for violations of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including orders to pay to the other party the reasonable costs of legal fees. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to report to the Congress, within one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the results of a study determining whether persons awarded damages for general aviation accidents under this Act are unable to collect such damages, and the amount of any uncollectible damages.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Price Fixing Prevention Act of 1989 - Provides that in any civil action alleging a contract, combination, or conspiracy to set, change, or maintain prices (other than a maximum price) under the Sherman Antitrust Act: (1) evidence that a person who sells a good or service to the claimant for resale received from a competitor a communication regarding price competition by the claimant and in response terminated the claimant as a buyer (or refused to supply such goods or services) shall be sufficient to raise the inference that such person and such competitor engaged in concerted action to set, change, or maintain prices in violation of such Act (in such case, a termination or refusal to supply is in response to a communication if such communication is a substantial contributing cause of such termination or refusal to supply); (2) the fact that the seller and the purchaser of a good or service entered into an agreement shall be sufficient to constitute a violation of such Act; and (3) an agreement between the seller and the purchaser to terminate another purchaser as a dealer or to refuse to supply such other purchaser because of that purchaser's pricing policies shall constitute a violation of such Act, whether or not a specific price level is agreed upon.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 1992 the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued. (Under current law, authority for these programs is due to expire as of 1990.)
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Amends the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act to require that cigarettes and cigarette advertising bear a label stating the addictive quality of nicotine.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Radio License Renewal and Improvements Act of 1989 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission, with respect to applications for radio license broadcast renewals, to grant a renewal if during the preceding term of the license the licensee: (1) has broadcast material responsive to issues of concern to the residents of its service area; and (2) has not committed violations of such Act or the rules or regulations of the Commission, which taken together would constitute a pattern of abuse. Authorizes the Commission to deny a renewal or grant limited renewal if an applicant has failed to meet such requirements. Prohibits the Commission, in evaluating a licensee's performance in broadcasting material responsive to matters of public concern, from establishing or applying any requirement with respect to the broadcast of any specific subject or quantity of material. Directs the Commission to accept the licensee's judgment if found to be reasonable and made in good faith. Prohibits the Commission, in determining whether to renew a license, from considering whether the public interest, convenience, and necessity might be served by granting a license to a competing applicant. Directs the Commission to conduct an inquiry and prescribe any necessary regulations concerning any additional information that licensees should be required to maintain and make available to the public regarding the licensee's responsibility to broadcast material responsive to matters of public concern. Makes it unlawful for a license applicant and any other person, while a license application is pending, to effectuate an agreement whereby the other person withdraws or withholds the filing of a competing application, an informal objection, or a petition to deny in exchange for the payment of anything of value by, or on behalf of, the applicant. Requires the Commission to establish a procedure for the review of informal complaints received by the Commission during the license term of a radio licensee. Authorizes the Commission to consider such complaints at the time of a license renewal if such complaints constitute a pattern of abuse for purposes of this Act or evidence of the licensee's effort to serve the public interest.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1989
Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Educational Education Act (the Act) to reauthorize and revise its programs. Adds to the purposes of the Act assurance that disadvantaged parents dependent on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program assistance receive access to quality vocational education programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 and succeeding fiscal years for specified programs. Title I: Amendments to Title I - Changes the heading of title I to Vocational and Adult Education. Adds a new part A, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. Establishes the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (the Office) within the Department of Education, to be headed by an Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education. Transfers various functions of the Secretary to the Assistant Secretary. Revises provisions relating to allotments to States and within-State allocations, State administration, State councils of vocational education, State plans, approval, and local applications. Requires that, from the remainder of its State allotment, each State make available: (1) at least 25 percent for activities in postsecondary education, including education for adults in out-of-school settings; and (2) at least 25 percent for activities in secondary education. Includes student members of vocational student organizations on State councils of vocational education. Title II: Basic Grants for Vocational Education - Part A: Vocational Education Opportunities - Revises provisions relating to uses of funds, distribution of assistance, and criteria for services and activities for the handicapped and disadvantaged. Allows a State, after documenting the need to do so and receiving the Assistant Secretary's written approval, to transfer up to 20 percent of the funds allotted to any category of special population allotments to another such category. Part B: Vocational Education Program Improvement, Innovation, and Expansion - Provides for the use of funds for inservice and preservice training for teachers, counselors, and administrators, training for State and local leaders, and vocational-technical education leadership training and professional development. Title III: Special Programs - Part A: State Assistance for Vocational Education Support Programs by Community-Based Organizations - Provides for the use of funds for: (1) foster care youth making the transition to independent living; (2) non-English speaking youth; and (3) model programs using vocational education approaches to prevent school dropouts or promote their reentry to school. Part B: Consumer and Homemaker Education - Provides for consumer and homemaker education grants for instruction in individual and family health. Provides for the use of funds for instruction relating to: (1) balancing work and family; (2) family violence and child abuse; (3) teenage parents; (4) teen pregnancy prevention; and (5) at-risk populations, including the homeless. Allows funds for information dissemination and leadership to be used to help provide State leadership and full-time State administrators qualified by experience and educational preparation. Part C: Adult Training, Retraining, and Employment Development - Subpart 1: Basic Program - Requires Adult Training, Retraining and Employment Development programs to serve the unemployed. Allows the use of State grant funds for: (1) cooperation education; (2) career guidance and vocational counseling; (3) occupational education programs begun in junior year of high school and completed in a community, technical, or junior college; and (4) training and retraining for high technology occupations or in businesses with technological needs, with special consideration to individuals 55 and older. Subpart 2: Special Programs - Makes technical amendments regarding grants for special programs and their uses. Part D: Comprehensive Career Guidance and Vocational Counseling Programs - Requires that at least 20 percent of funds to a State under this part be used for research and demonstration projects to establish and implement or demonstrate student/client outcome standards delivered through comprehensive career guidance and vocational counseling programs. Requires fund recipients to review, set, or make known the standards under which such programs will be measured in the future. Part E: Business-Industry-Education Partnership for Training in High Technology Occupations - Includes small businesses and persons with limited English proficiency among those to be served by the Business-Industry-Education Partnership for Training in High Technology Occupations program. Includes cooperative education among uses of grants. Allows the use of funds for: (1) career guidance; (2) occupational programs begun in junior year of high school and completed in a community technical, or junior college; and (3) activities which encourage collaboration between small businesses and vocational education to develop appropriate high-technology skills and placement opportunities. Part F: Tech-Prep Education Programs - Adds the following new part F, Tech-Prep Education Programs, to title III of the Act. Tech-Prep Education Act - Establishes a program of grants to consortia of local educational agencies and community colleges to provide tech-prep education programs. Defines "tech-prep education program" as a combined secondary and postsecondary program which: (1) leads to an associate degree or two-year certificate; (2) provides advanced technical preparation in such fields as agriculture, business, health, applied science, or mechanical or industrial trades; (3) provides competence in mathematics, science, and communications; and (4) leads to placement in employment or further education. Directs the Assistant Secretary, from each State's allotment in accordance with State plans, to make grants to pay the Federal share of the cost of activities carried out under this part to consortia of: (1) local educational agencies or area vocational schools serving secondary school students; and (2) community colleges and postsecondary vocational technical schools. Sets forth the Federal share. Requires each grant recipient to use the grant funds to develop and operate a four-year technical preparation education program with specified curricula. Sets forth reporting requirements. Title IV: National Programs - Part A: Research and Professional Development - Subpart 1: Research - Includes adults who are in need of training among those to be served. Includes long-range research, field-initiated research, and cooperative education among research activities to be funded. Directs the Secretary to include in the annual report research criteria and summaries of research activities and their contribution to vocational education. Revises provisions for national assessment of vocational educational programs assisted under the Act. Requires such assessment to compare, where practicable, the impact of vocational education programs with the impact of nonvocational secondary education and liberal arts postsecondary education programs on achievement of academic skills and employment opportunities. Revises the formula for limitation of expenditures for such assessment. Revises provisions for the National Center for Research in Vocational Education to require a minimum set-aside of research funds for the Center. Subpart 2: Professional Development - Establishes a program of vocational education personnel development assistance, including opportunities for: (1) advanced study of vocational education; (2) vocational educators updating their technological knowledge; (3) training of new vocational education teachers; and (4) gifted and talented vocational education secondary and postsecondary students to intern with specified organizations. Provides for vocational education leadership development awards. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary to establish and support, through grants or contracts to public colleges and universities, up to ten vocational education leadership development research institutes to: (1) improve response to the needs of the labor market and special populations; (2) develop professional leadership; and (3) enhance teacher education. Part B: Demonstration Programs - Subpart 1: Cooperative Demonstration Programs - Provides for programs to overcome national skill shortages in new and emerging occupations and to add programs for: (1) professional leadership development, especially for minorities; (2) model child growth and development centers; and (3) secondary vocational education partnerships with business, industry, and labor. Subpart 2: State Equipment Pools - Makes conforming amendments. Subpart 3: Demonstration Centers for the Retraining of Dislocated Workers - Makes conforming amendments. Subpart 4: Model Centers for Vocational Education for Older Individuals - Makes conforming amendments. Part C: Vocational Education and Occupational Information Data - Revises provisions relating to a national vocational education data reporting and accounting system. Directs the Assistant Secretary, by September 30, 1991, to establish a National Vocational Education Data System using comparative information elements and uniform definitions and including specified types of information. Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish and chair a task force to establish, operate, and update the system. Requires the system to be compatible with other specified vocational data systems and for reviewing the system biennially. Requires the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee to: (1) develop and implement a labor market data base representative of actual jobs, new jobs, replacements, and trends; and (2) reserve a specified portion of funds to support State occupational information coordinating committees in carrying out State occupational information systems and career information delivery systems. Requires the Assistant Secretary to establish a National Network for Curriculum Coordination in Vocational and Technical Education, consisting of six regional curriculum coordination centers. Part D: National Council on Vocational Education - Requires that at least one member of the National Council on Vocational Education be a secondary or postsecondary vocational education student active in a vocational student organization. Requires the Council to advise about worksite programs such as cooperative education. Part E: Bilingual and Limited English Proficiency Vocational Training - Sets forth findings and purposes relating to limited English proficiency individuals and their needs. Subpart 1: Bilingual Vocational Training - Requires that certain funds be used for: (1) training of instructors and staff of bilingual vocational education and training programs; and (2) development of instructional and curriculum materials methods, or techniques for bilingual vocational training. Subpart 2: Targeted Assistance for Persons of Limited English Proficiency - Establishes a new program of vocational education targeted assistance for persons of limited English proficiency. Part F: General Provisions - Repeals part F (General Provisions) of title IV of the Act. Title V: General Provisions - Part A: Federal Administrative Provision - Makes conforming amendments. Part B: Definitions - Revises title II part B (Definitions). Title VI: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to the table of contents of the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1989
Sugar Supply Stabilization Act of 1989 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to reduce sugar support price levels beginning in 1989. Increases sugar import levels for 1990 through 1993. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) endeavor to reduce the difference between the sugar support price and the market stabilization price by using alternative methods to determine transportation differentials and regional loan rates; and (2) report to the appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1989
Federal Retirees Fairness Act - Requires Federal agencies to ensure that employee personnel files include information of all Federal employment for retirement purposes within 180 days after an employee begins service with an agency. Requires an agency, if an employee gives at least four months' to one year's notice of intent to retire, to: (1) inform such employee (or, if deceased, the employee's survivors) of any retirement counseling and applicable services; and (2) begin processing disability retirement applications not later than 30 days after the date of the application. Sets forth a schedule for processing applications for retirement deduction refunds and death benefits. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to compile quarterly information on the number of retirement applications submitted by agencies and their timeliness and accuracy. Requires the agency retirement counselor to conduct seminars at least twice a year.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1989
Declares that the receipts and disbursements of the Postal Service Fund: (1) shall not be included in the totals of the Federal budget or the congressional budget; (2) shall be exempt from Federal budget limitations on expenditures and net lending; and (3) shall not be counted for purposes of calculating the Federal deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1989
Postal Reorganization Act Amendments of 1989 - Declares that the receipts and disbursements of the Postal Service Fund: (1) shall not be included in the totals of the Federal budget or the congressional budget; (2) shall be exempt from Federal budget limitations on expenditures and net lending; and (3) shall be exempt from any sequestration order under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and shall not be counted for purposes of calculating the Federal deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1989
Congressional Salary Act of 1989 - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to require congressional pay increases to correspond to increases under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act and to take effect at the beginning of the next Congress. (Currently such increases correspond to increases under the General Schedule.) Amends the Federal Salary Act of 1967 to make the presidential pay recommendations relating to Members of Congress of an advisory nature only.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1989
Peace Corps Volunteer Education Demonstration Program Act - Authorizes the Director of the Peace Corps to carry out a training and educational benefits demonstration program. Makes eligible for program participation any student at an institution of higher education who: (1) has completed at least two years of satisfactory study and is enrolled in a bachelor-degree program of at least four years; (2) agrees to serve at least three years in the Peace Corps; and (3) is selected in a competitive process. Requires selection procedures to include special consideration for traditionally underserved groups of students and students who will specialize in courses in areas in which the Peace Corps has special need. Requires the Director to carry out a training program under which participants receive appropriate training for their Peace Corps work as part of their course of study. Makes participants eligible for educational benefits to cover attendance costs during their remaining two years of study. Requires repayment of such benefits if the individual fails to complete three years of Peace Corps service. Directs the Secretary of Education to evaluate and report on such program to the President and the Congress by October 31, 1994. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1995.
![Official portrait of Rep. Goodling, William F. [R-PA-19]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/g000291_200.jpg)