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United States · Official source
2,579 records where Rep. Gunderson, Steve [R-WI-3] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Designates September 8, 1989, as National Pledge of Allegiance Day. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission should include the centennial observance of the Pledge of Allegiance in its commemorative activities.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends Federal law relating to the provision of books for the adult blind to provide that the certification of dyslexia, for purposes of eligibility for a loan of books published on sound reproduction recordings, may be made by a competent authority only through the use of a test: (1) approved by the Director of the National Institutes of Health; and (2) administered by an individual (who does not have to be a doctor of medicine) qualified to administer and evaluate such a test.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any distribution from an individual retirement plan if: (1) the payee has attained age 59 1/2 on or before the date of distribution; and (2) the distribution is used during the taxable year to pay premiums for a long-term health care insurance policy covering necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or personal care services for the payee or a spouse meeting the same 59 1/2 year age requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions governing the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) make the deduction permanent (under current law it will expire after tax year 1989); and (2) phase in an increase in the allowable deduction, reaching 100 percent for taxable years beginning in 1994 and thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an individual otherwise taxable amounts derived from the whole or partial surrender, cancellation, or exchange of any life insurance policy if: (1) the individual is age 65 or older on the date of the transaction; and (2) the amounts in question are used to pay premiums for an insurance policy covering at least 12 months of medically necessary nonemergency care for the individual or a spouse meeting the same 65-year age requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Designates May 29, 1989, as the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the U.S.S. Iowa.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Designates October 22 through October 28, 1989, as World Population Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Organ Transportation Good Samaritan Act - Limits to gross negligence the liability of persons who without compensation transport by air in interstate commerce human transplant organs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use the most current data available when updating hospital area wage index factors (used in determining the amount of Medicare payments to be made to hospitals for wage-related costs).
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1989 - Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that: (1) terminated the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs as of tax year 1989; and (2) deny benefits in connection with graduate work.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Federal excise taxes should not be increased.
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 · 17 April 1989
Requires the Committee on House Administration, not later than December 31, 1989, to: (1) take such action as may be necessary to discontinue use of disposable polystyrene foam trays, dishes, and beverage containers in the food service operations of the House of Representatives; and (2) require that disposable trays, dishes, and beverage containers used in such operations be biodegradable.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Drug-Free Housing Act of 1989 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to make ineligible for public housing assistance, and expedite procedure for evicting, persons involved in drug-related criminal activity.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1989
Older Americans Child Care Employment Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Older Americans Community Service Employment Act to require the Secretary of Labor to enter into agreements with public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations for the conduct of no more than 100 experimental projects employing individuals who are age 55 or older in providing day care to children. Requires that such agencies or organizations: (1) receive one-third of their funding from non-Federal sources; (2) charge families a day care fee which is proportional to their financial resources; (3) provide day care in facilities other than private residences; and (4) be subject to the most comprehensive State licensing requirements or regulatory standards applicable to similar day care providers in the State. Prohibits the making of grants pursuant to this Act to more than two agencies or organizations in each State in any fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations for such projects.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1989
Child Care Assistance Act - Title I: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Subtitle A: Young Child Tax Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a new refundable tax credit, the Young Child Tax Credit. Allows families with incomes not exceeding $10,000 the credit of 12 percent of their earned income for one of their children under age five, plus six percent for each of up to two additional children under age five. Sets the maximum credit at $1,000 per year for one qualifying child, $1,500 for two, and $2,000 for three or more. Phases out the credit by reducing it by ten percent of so much of the adjusted gross income (or, if greater, the earned income) as exceeds $10,000. Allows advance payments of the credit. Subtitle B: Incentives for Employer Provided Child Care - Establishes a new business-related tax credit, the Dependent Care Assistance Program Credit. Allows the credit to employers for ten percent of their expenditures for payment or provision of services under a qualified dependent care assistance program for their employees. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) study barriers to employers providing child care services for their employees; and (2) report within 540 days to specified congressional committees on such study, with recommendations on removal of barriers and on incentives for employers to provide such services. Title II: Block Grants to States for Activities Relating to Dependent Care Services - Amends the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act to increase the authorization of appropriations for FY 1990 and to extend it through FY 1992, for grants to States for planning and development of dependent care programs. Revises and expands the authorized uses of allotments of such block grants to States. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report annually to specified congressional committees on State programs carried out with such block grants. Requires States to submit such reports on their use of grants as the Secretary may require. Changes the short title of such Act to the State Dependent Care Block Grants Act. Title III: Child Care Liability Risk Retention Group - Authorizes any State to assist in the establishment and operation of a child care liability risk retention group (i.e. a corporation or other limited liability association whose members are child care providers licensed or accredited pursuant to State or local law or standards, and which otherwise satisfies specified criteria for risk retention groups). Sets forth State application requirements. Requires State plans to: (1) identify the lead agency designated and responsible for the administration of funds under this part; (2) provide that all participants in the child care liability risk retention group are child care providers who are licensed or accredited pursuant to State or local law or standards; (3) provide for maximum membership of family-based child care providers in the group; (4) provide that the State shall use at least the amount allotted to establish or maintain a liability risk retention group for child care providers; and (5) specify how any such liability risk retention group will continue to be financed after FY 1992, including by contributions by the State or by members of such pool. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review and approve State plans and to monitor State compliance with requirements of this title. Provides for suspension of payments upon a finding of noncompliance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 to carry out this title and to remain available for assistance to States for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to reserve specified portions of such funds for payments to specified U.S. territories and for administrative costs. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to allot the remainder to States on the basis of the number of children under 13 years of age. Permits a portion of such allotments to be used for State administrative costs. Sets forth provisions relating to entitlement, method, and State spending of allotment payments. Title IV: Revolving Loan Fund - Provides assistance for State-established revolving loan funds to enable family-based child care providers to meet accreditation or licensing standards. Requires each applicant State to establish a revolving loan fund, along with specified procedures and guidelines. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990, to remain available for assistance to States for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary to make allotments to States through a formula based on the number of children under 12 years of age.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Designates the month of April 1989 as National Cancer Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Missing Service Personnel Act of 1989 - Requires the responsible uniformed service commander, after receiving notice that a person under his command is missing, to conduct an informal investigation to determine such person's whereabouts and, if appropriate, to place such person in a missing status. Requires the commander, if a person has been placed in such status, to notify the officer holding general court-martial authority over such person (or, in the case of a missing civilian, the Secretary concerned), who shall convene a board of initial inquiry within 45 days. Requires such board to: (1) investigate evidence relating to the disappearance of such person; (2) recommend whether to continue such person in a missing status or make a finding that such person has deserted, is absent without leave, or is dead; and (3) report its recommendations and findings. Provides for the convening of a board of further inquiry, if a board of initial inquiry recommends that such person be continued in a missing status, within one year of such recommendation. Requires such board to analyze any information which has become available since the board of initial inquiry issued its report, to determine whether such person should be continued in a missing status or declared dead, and to report its findings. Directs the Secretary concerned, upon the written request of a member of the immediate family of a missing person who, before the date of the enactment of this Act, was determined by the Secretary to be dead, to: (1) convene a board of further inquiry to determine whether such finding of death should be upheld or such person should be placed in a missing status; and (2) report its findings. Requires the Secretary, within three years after a board of further inquiry recommends a missing status for any person, to reconvene such board to review such status. Specifies the composition of such boards. Directs the Secretary to invite each member of the immediate family of the missing person to the meetings of a board of initial inquiry unless attendance would place such member in danger. Requires the Secretary to: (1) invite family members of missing persons to meetings of boards of further inquiry; (2) schedule such meetings at convenient locations and times; (3) provide such family members with reasonable notice of such meetings; and (4) open such meetings to the general public. Authorizes each board to hold meetings, take testimony, receive evidence, and secure directly from any U.S. department or agency any information necessary to carry out its duties. Provides for the appointment of counsel by the officer or Secretary concerned to represent the missing person. Requires that, if a board determines that a missing person is dead, it shall include in its report a detailed description of the location and date of death, whether the body has been recovered, and whether a licensed practitioner of forensic medicine determined that the body recovered is that of the missing person. Prohibits any such board from declaring a missing person dead unless: (1) evidence other than the passage of a period of less than 50 years suggests that such person is dead; (2) no evidence which reasonably suggests that such person is alive is in the possession of the Government; (3) representatives of the Government have made a complete search of the area where such person was last seen (unless the United States is not granted access to such area); and (4) Government representatives have checked the records of the government or entity having control over the area where such person was last seen (unless the Government is not granted access to such records). Provides for judicial review of determinations of death upon the filing of a written petition by any member of the missing person's immediate family. Directs the Secretary of the uniformed service in which a missing person serves to make certain that such person's personnel file contains all information in the possession of Federal departments and agencies pertaining to the disappearance or whereabouts of such person. Requires the Secretary to make certain that, if classified information is withheld, such file contains: (1) a notice that the information exists; and (2) a notice of the date of the most recent review of the classification status of the information. Sets forth penalties for knowingly withholding information pertaining to the disappearance or whereabouts of a missing person from that person's personnel file. Requires the Secretary concerned to make the contents of such file available to a member of the immediate family of such person upon written request.
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 · 5 April 1989
Tropical Forest Protection Act of 1989 - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of specified multilateral development banks to promote the preservation of tropical forests or other endangered ecosystems and species in debtor developing countries by enabling such countries, through debt reduction or restructuring, to buy back private debt at discount rates in the secondary market if such countries: (1) convert an agreed upon amount of debt to local currency for use in "debt-for-nature swap" programs for the protection of such forests, ecosystems, or species; or (2) demonstrate a commitment to the protection of such forests in the form of such swaps for set asides or conservation easements. Directs the Secretary to instruct such directors to consult with one another to promote debt suspension in such countries as long as environmental protection commitments are maintained. Requires the Secretary to instruct the U.S. executive director to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to initiate discussions with other directors and management of the Bank and propose a three-year environmental sector lending program for countries with such commitments to: (1) reduce the future need for lending for reforestation and restoration of environmentally degraded areas; and (2) be based on the estimated long-term economic return expected from the sustainable use and protection of tropical forests and the benefits from maintenance of biological diversity and climate stabilization. Directs the Secretary to instruct such directors to promote policies which: (1) assist in strengthening nongovernmental organizations in such countries by providing technical assistance and support for environmental protection activities; and (2) encourage international collaboration for information exchange and project enhancement with environmental protection organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Healthy Birth Act of 1989 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to increase authorized appropriations for such program. Sets aside certain appropriated amounts for comprehensive State infant mortality initiatives and Federal activities in coordination with such initiatives. Prohibits Federal assistance for such a State initiative unless the State provides assurances that it will: (1) establish a toll-free telephone information and referral system for maternal and child health services; (2) provide technical assistance and public awareness activities regarding the maternal and child health handbook to be disseminated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (3) develop and expand maternal and child health home visiting programs; (4) establish a "one-stop shopping," client-centered program under which pregnant women and mothers can apply for a wide range of Government programs in a coordinated manner at a location at which social and health-related services are made available to pregnant women and infants; (5) evaluate the impact of such initiative; and (6) be able to continue such initiative without Federal assistance within five years of the first receipt of such assistance. Directs the Secretary to use a specified portion of set-aside amounts to: (1) provide technical assistance to State initiatives; (2) disseminate a maternal and child health handbook to all pregnant women and new parents; (3) establish a nationwide, toll-free telephone information and referral system for maternal and child health services; (4) develop a model, coordinated application and eligibility determination system for use by States under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Act) and the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children; (5) improve the integration and coordination of Federal programs serving pregnant women and children; and (6) monitor and evaluate State infant mortality initiatives. Requires the Secretary to give priority to the initiatives of States demonstrating the greatest need and an ability to implement such initiatives, while recognizing the need for an equitable distribution of assistance among the States.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Emergency Phone System Equal Access Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require that any telecommunication system that is operated by a provider of public safety services, used to provide public safety emergency answering services, and manufactured, imported, or installed in the United States more than one year after the enactment of this Act be readily accessible to hearing- and speech-impaired individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Designates September 1989 as National Library Card Sign-Up Month.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Criticizes the efforts of the Republic of Serbia to infringe upon ethnic Albanians' rights in Kosovo, Yugoslavia. Calls upon the President to: (1) express the concerns of the Congress to the Yugoslavian Government regarding steps taken to amend the Serbian Constitution; (2) continue to monitor the human rights situation in Kosovo; and (3) reexamine relations with Yugoslavia in the event that Serbia continues to infringe upon the rights of ethnic Albanians of Kosovo.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1989
Designates the week of September 10 through September 16, 1989, as National Check-Up Week.
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
Provides that provisions of the Endangered Species Act which require Federal agencies to insure that their activities are not likely to jeopardize the existence or habitat of an endangered species shall not apply with respect to the spotted owl and timber sales on National Forest System lands for five years. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to report to Federal agencies making decisions on the status of the owl and to the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on: (1) the range and requirements of habitats occupied by such owls, including the extent of their use of non-old-growth timber stands in California, Oregon, and Washington; and (2) the extent of habitat suitable for the owl.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Common Sense Budget Act of 1989 - Amends Federal law to require both the President and the Congress to draft a budget based on estimates of current fiscal year spending, proposing increases or decreases based on this level (rather than on an estimated baseline). Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office to use such a current fiscal year baseline in its report to the congressional budget committees, projecting growth for entitlement and discretionary spending based on current fiscal year spending.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to place the Office of Rural Health Policy under the direction of a Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Health responsible for reporting directly to the Secretary and Deputy Under Secretary of Health and Human Services. Makes such Office independent of other offices, services, and components of the Department of Health and Human Services. Elaborates upon the duties of the Office of Rural Health Policy.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require rural health clinics to have a nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or certified nurse-midwife available to furnish patient care services at least 50 percent of the time the clinic operates. Covers social worker services furnished to outpatients of rural health clinics. Expands the area within which rural health clinics may be located. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide health care facilities and the chief executive officer, chief health officer, and chief human services officer of each State with applications and information enabling such facilities to apply for rural health clinic designation under the Medicare or Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) program.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Emergency Refugee Act of 1989 - Authorizes additional FY 1989 refugee admissions from the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, the Near East, and East Asia First Asylum countries. Transfers unused FY 1989 State legalization impact assistance grant (SLIAG) funds to cover specified costs related to such admissions. Authorizes additional SLIAG FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations for anti-discrimination in employment activities. Authorizes SLIAG funds to be used for: (1) employment training and educational outreach programs for legalized aliens; and (2) State enforcement of anti-discrimination activities. Establishes an administrative appeals process for States applying for SLIAG assistance. Gives education priority under such grants to basic citizenship skills (English language and United States history and government).
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study into the adequacy and appropriateness of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) payments for ambulance services and report the results of such study to the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment.
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 · 23 March 1989
Rural Emergency Medical Services Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title on emergency medical services for rural areas. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make an allotment for each State each fiscal year for improving the availability and quality, in rural areas, of emergency medical services and emergency medical services systems provided to victims of emergencies prior to the arrival of the victims at medical facilities. Requires, after FY 1990, non-Federal matching contributions in a specified ratio. Allows a State to expend payments received for: (1) recruitment, training, and retention of personnel; (2) purchase, upgrading, and maintenance of equipment; (3) planning, coordination, and support of local emergency medical services and systems; and (4) public education. Requires that the State plan for emergency services provide for adequate services in rural areas. Sets forth a formula for determination of the amount of allotments. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for research into and demonstration projects concerning ways to improve the availability and quality of prehospital emergency medical services in rural areas by using communications technologies, making continuing education more accessible, improving curricula, undertaking outcome studies, and developing innovative financing mechanisms. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for pilot projects to develop community-based centers to coordinate and deliver comprehensive occupational health and safety services to rural communities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992 for improving rural prehospital emergency services and for centers for rural occupational health and safety services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Maternal Child Health Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to increase authorized appropriations for such program. Sets aside certain appropriated amounts for State initiatives promoting the enrollment of at-risk pregnant women and children in programs providing health services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Rural Hospital Recovery Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to draft and submit to the Congress and the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, within one year of this Act's enactment, legislation eliminating the differences in average standardized Medicare payments (under title XVIII of the Social Security Act) to large urban, other urban, and rural hospitals while recognizing certain cost differences among hospitals and within diagnosis related groups. Amends the Medicare program to require the Secretary to pay additional amounts to Medicare-dependent, small, rural hospitals before October 1, 1994, and to critical access facilities thereafter to ensure that their reasonable operating costs for inpatient hospital services are covered. Establishes an application process for rural hospitals which choose to be treated as urban hospitals by reason of their proximity to urban areas. Requires the recomputation of Medicare sole community hospital payment rates using the most recent information on hospital-specific costs per case and, if greater, national rather than regional prospective payment rates. Treats hospitals which are located 30 miles or more from other like hospitals, or hospitals which provide inpatient hospital services to at least 60 percent of the residents or part A (Hospital Insurance) Medicare beneficiaries within a 30-mile radius of the hospital as sole community hospitals. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress by October 1, 1990, on the process by which sole community hospitals may appeal the Secretary's decision not to make a volume adjustment to its Medicare payment. Establishes the Medicare Geographical Classification/Critical Access Facility Review Board which shall: (1) designate certain hospitals as critical access facilities; (2) hear appeals from rural hospitals which the Secretary determines do not qualify for treatment as being located in an adjacent urban area; and (3) conduct hearings with respect to the Secretary's refusal to consider a hospital to be a sole community hospital. Defines a "critical access facility" as a small, rural hospital which due to its location, prolonged severe weather conditions, or the availability of other hospitals to serve part A Medicare beneficiaries residing in the area must receive additional payments in order to continue to deliver critical health care services. Extends the regional referral center classification of hospitals so classified as of September 30, 1989, and the Medicare payment rates applicable to such hospitals until the implementation of unified average standardized Medicare payments for large urban, other urban, and rural hospitals. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to alter the Rural Health Care Transition Grant Program by: (1) extending from two to three years the limit on the provision of grants to small, rural hospitals for modification of their services; (2) permitting the Secretary to waive the hospital grant limit; and (3) increasing and extending the authorization of appropriations for such program through FY 1992. Requires the Secretary to submit a report to the Congress by April 1, 1990, identifying laws, rules, and regulations which prevent rural hospitals from providing innovative patient services. Directs the Secretary to conduct a five-year demonstration program in five rural hospitals treating the costs of nursing services obtained pursuant to an existing agreement with a nursing school as the costs of approved educational activities for Medicare payment purposes. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to expand, from four to ten hospitals, a Medicare demonstration program covering additional costs incurred by teaching hospitals in sending their residents to small rural hospitals for training. Extends the permissible duration of such training from three months to two years. Favors projects which provide small rural hospitals with resident physicians for longer periods of time and give physicians from the small rural hospital the opportunity to work or study at the sponsoring hospital. Makes consortiums of small rural hospitals eligible to accept the services of such a resident physician.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for education loan interest accrued by a physician, nurse, or allied health professional while serving in a medically underserved area.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Designates the week beginning October 29, 1989, as Gaucher's Disease Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Designates November 1989 as National Employee Assistance Programs Recognition Month.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the month of April 1989 as Fair Housing Month.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the disparity between rural and urban physician fees under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act must be reconciled.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1989
Designates the week of October 23 through October 29, 1989, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1989
Title I: Statehood Centennial Coin - Statehood Centennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of one-dollar silver coins and five-dollar palladium coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the statehood of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires the Secretary to provide a specified amount of all surcharges to the Documents West exhibition program with the remaining amount of surcharges to be deposited in the Treasury to be used to reduce the national debt. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for the one-dollar coins only from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act. Requires the Secretary to obtain palladium for the five-dollar coins by purchase of palladium mined and refined in the United States. Grants the Comptroller General the right to examine records and other data of the Idaho Centennial Commission. Title II: Silver Proof Sets - Silver Coin Proof Set Act - Authorizes the Secretary to mint and issue silver coin proof sets. Sets forth certain specified features of such coins and provides for their sale to the public. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for such coins by purchase from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act and from Treasury stocks on hand.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1989
High Definition Television Research and Development Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to provide assistance for the creation and support of joint research and development ventures to speed commercialization of high definition television products and services and to establish technology-sharing and technology transfer procedures. Directs the Secretary to: (1) publish notice that the National Institute is prepared to accept applications for assistance; and (2) negotiate a Memorandum stating the activities and responsibilities of each member of any joint venture selected for assistance. Requires each joint venture to submit an annual report and operating plan to the Secretary, the appropriate congressional committees, and the Comptroller General of the United States defining the goals, financial reporting requirements, and technology transfer agreements to be established in such joint venture. Treats all intellectual properties, trade secrets, and technical data developed by a joint venture receiving such assistance as if they are inventions made with Federal assistance for purposes of patent rights to such information. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Agricultural Research Commercialization Act of 1989 - Establishes the Agricultural Research Commercialization Corporation in the Department of Agriculture to facilitate the commercialization of new industrial products and processes using traditional and new agricultural and forestry crops. Directs the Corporation to establish between four and nine regional centers. Provides for the appointment of regional advisory councils whose primary duty shall be project application review. Sets forth center activities, including: (1) identification of new products and of areas for new product commercialization; (2) coordination of research and development programs; (3) provision of technical assistance; (4) dissemination of information; and (5) coordination of private sector, university, and government activities. Sets forth financial assistance criteria. Establishes a Corporation revolving fund. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1999 appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Requires the cost-of-living adjustments in FY 1990 for persons receiving military retired pay or an annuity under a veterans' survivors' benefits program to take effect. Prohibits any reduction or suspension of such adjustments under any presidential order or any other provision of law, except applicable Federal armed forces provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Designates October 1989 as National Down Syndrome Month.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Urges the British Government to ensure direct elections in 1991 and 1994 to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Calls upon the President to communicate to the People's Republic of China and the British Government the importance the United States attaches to the democratic and human rights of Hong Kong's citizens and the retention of Hong Kong's capitalist system.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Head Start Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Head Start Act to increase the amount authorized to be appropriated for FY 1990.