United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1994
Economic Development Reauthorization Act of 1994 - Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to reenact such Act as the Economic Development Financing Act of 1994 (the Act). Prohibits any more than 15 percent of the total appropriations made for grants to States for public works and development facilities from being expended in any one State unless the Secretary of Commerce determines such expenditure is necessary due to the occurence of a major natural disaster. Authorizes appropriations for public works and development facilities grants for FY 1994 and 1995. Allows for the use of funds for: (1) projects constructed under projected costs; and (2) projects for which the purpose or scope is changed after the grants are made if approved by the Secretary. Allows the Secretary to make public works and development facility loans to States, Indian tribes, or any private or public nonprofit organization or association if, among other conditions, the area for the proposed loan has an approved investment strategy (currently, an approved economic development program) for the funds provided. Allows the Secretary to assist in financing and industrial or commercial activity (currently, only those in a redevelopment area). Allows the Economic Development Revolving Fund established prior to this Act to continue to be available to the Secretary in connection with financial assistance extended under this Act before October 1, 1991. Directs the Secretary to establish an Office of Strategic Economic Development Planning and Policy to support research, evaluation, and demonstration projects, to provide and coordinate policy development, and to disseminate information with respect to economic development planning and policy. Directs the Secretary to establish and conduct a continuing program of study, training, and research into causes of long-term economic deterioration and to make such research available to interested parties. Requires an annual report. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and report to the Congress concerning a computerized geographic analysis tool to be used by all Federal departments and agencies and grant recipients to evaluate the success of the continuing programs; (2) establish an independent advisory committee to advise and make recommendations to the Office; and (3) establish a Federal Coordinating Council to provide assistance in the development of a government-wide strategic plan for economic development. Allows for grants and contracts for appropriate demonstration projects. Directs the Secretary to establish the Office of Economic Development Information to serve as a central information clearinghouse on matters relating to economic development and adjustment, industrial retention, disaster recovery, and defense conversion programs and activities of Federal and State governments. Requires the development of information data bases to be used by Federal, state and local agencies, public and private entities, and individuals in applying for assistance under such programs. Requires the establishment of mechanisms for easy access to information compiled and appropriate outreach services. Requires the Secretary to develop and report to the Congress on the use of a general, simplified application form for grant assistance provided under this Act to be used by all Federal departments and agencies. Removes the authority of the Secretary to provide technical assistance to alleviate or prevent conditions of excessive unemployment or underemployment in redevelopment areas. Directs the Secretary, with funds made available under this Act, to conduct during FY 1994 through 1996 a project to demonstrate methods of assisting isolated small businesses to access services provided by Federal, State, and local governments. Requires, as part of such project, the establishment of three business outreach centers. Authorizes appropriations. Requires applicants, in order to be eligible for assistance provided under the Act, to make certain certifications for the area in which the economic development project would be located with respect to unemployment, low incomes, sudden job loss, and related factors. Makes ineffective the designation of a redevelopment area made before the date of enactment of the Act. Requires the applicant to submit an investment strategy which identifies the economic development problems to be addressed using such assistance. Provides for the appointment of an Administrator for Economic Development. Directs the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development to publish and submit to specified congressional committees guidelines for the expeditious processing of applications for assistance under the Act. Requires, at least biennially, evaluations of each university center and economic development district receiving grant assistance under the Act. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to ensure that Regional Counsels of the Economic Development Administration report directly to their Regional Director. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations and procedures for determining priorities in the awarding of grants for special economic development and adjustment assistance to State and local areas having special needs arising from severe unemployment due to economic dislocation. Authorizes the Secretary to make such assistance available to military bases which are closed or realigned and the communities affected by such closures or realignments. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 and 1995 for such projects, with a specific amount set aside for defense conversion activities and for any natural disaster. Authorizes the Secretary to guarantee loans made to private borrowers by private institutions and other lenders for the development of land and facilities for industrial or commercial usage or for the provision of working capital. Directs the Secretary, in order to study the possibility of equity financing, to establish a five-year pilot program under which the Secretary provides grants to eligible entities to purchase nonvoting instruments of private U.S. businesses or nonprofit organizations and associations for the purpose of providing capital for any project relating to industrial or commercial development or working capital for such projects. Establishes the Equity Investment Revolving Fund for grant purposes. Outlines conditions concerning the use of payments. Authorizes appropriations. Requires certain public review and comment with respect to revolving loan fund guidelines. Allows for the sale of financial instruments in the Fund, with proceeds to be used for Fund purposes. Directs the Secretary to establish a multiyear demonstration project under which grants are provided to selected recipients on a matching basis for the purpose of establishing substantially leveraged financing for business development and other innovative economic development efforts. Requires the recipient to establish an investment fund for such purposes. Outlines eligibility requirements (low per capita income, high unemployment rate, and related factors). Outlines grant and demonstration project requirements and limitations. Requires evaluations and reports. Authorizes FY 1995 appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain an integrated, comprehensive data base describing all patents, licenses, technologies, processes, and other proprietary rights owned or held by the Federal Government or which originated in the course of federally funded research in which the Government has an interest. Requires the standardization and accessibility of such information. Requires access to the data base by the public (with restrictions such as national security interests) and by the Business Development and Technology Commercialization Corporation (created under this part). Directs the Secretary to review and report to the Congress on current Federal technology transfer efforts and commercialization activities. Establishes the Business Development and Technology Commercialization Corporation to facilitate the transfer and commercialization of Federal patents, licenses, technologies, processes, and other proprietary rights to qualified concerns. Requires such outreach to include the use of a cable television network devoted to marketing efforts for the commercialization of Federal technologies and processes, with promotional fees paid to the Corporation by the Secretary. Directs the Corporation to: (1) provide technical assistance and services upon request; (2) provide specific outreach services to qualified concerns located in areas of chronically depressed economies or high unemployment; and (3) act as an agent of the Government in facilitating the transfers of Federal technologies and processes. Outlines provisions with respect to the rights of the Government and qualified concerns receiving such technologies and processes, the financing of the Corporation, Corporation consultation with regard to their activities, Comptroller General audits, and jurisdiction when the Corporation is a party to a civil action. Directs the Corporation to act as a one-step clearinghouse for information to assist qualified concerns to identify sources of business development and technology commercialization financing available through the Federal Government, State and local governments, and private sources. Allows the Corporation to charge fees for technical assistance and services.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1994
Worker Rights and Labor Standards Trade Act of 1994 - Directs the President to seek the establishment of: (1) a working party within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to examine the relationship of fundamental internationally-recognized worker rights to specified articles of the GATT; and (2) a standing committee within the World Trade Organization to perform the functions of the working group.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1994
Authorizes and directs the Secretary of Defense to transfer on a nonreimbursable basis any excess industrial property to any nonprofit educational institution or training school when such entity's proposed use of such property will contribute materially to the national defense.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
River and Watershed Protection and Restoration Act of 1994 - Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish and maintain a National River and Watershed Registry to be comprised of rivers and associated watershed areas whose natural, scenic, cultural, or recreational values are to be protected or restored. Requires the Secretary to promulgate rules establishing criteria for the inclusion of rivers and associated watershed areas on the Registry, including a requirement that the designated State agency or an Indian tribe has submitted a petition for inclusion that contains a strategy specifying methods contributing to the protection and restoration of riverine and riparian resources within the area concerned. (Sec. 303) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) submission of nominations for the inclusion of any river and associated watershed area on the Registry by an appropriate State agency, a governing body of an Indian Tribe, or by a State agency for another entity; (2) inclusion of segments on the Registry; (3) periodic review of strategy implementation; (4) removal from the Registry; and (5) application for assistance under the Act by qualified watershed councils. Requires the appropriate Federal or State department, agency, or instrumentality, before approving or authorizing a planned undertaking that may adversely effect the implementation of a strategy in effect for a river and associated watershed area listed on the Registry, to notify the Secretary, the designated State agency, any affected Indian tribe, the appropriate local governmental officials, and the public. Sets forth conditions under which such approval or authorization may be issued. Exempts an undertaking: (1) determined by a Federal agency to be necessary for national security; (2) in a major disaster area; (3) involving only the repair or reconstruction of a building or facility constructed before the date on which the river and associated watershed area concerned were included on the Registry; or (4) that is required to be undertaken pursuant to Federal or State law. (Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary to: (1) enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to develop and publish standards for the protection and restoration of rivers, associated watershed areas, and riverine and riparian resources; and (2) provide technical assistance to qualified watershed councils, State, tribal and local governments, individuals, and private nonprofit organizations: (1) engaged in the restoration and conservation of rivers and watershed areas listed in the Registry; and (2) proposing to nominate a river or area for the Registry. (Sec. 308) Requires the Secretary to make capitalization grants to the States and Indian Tribes to be deposited in river and watershed restoration and conservation revolving funds established by the State or by the Tribal governing body and to be used by the designated State agency (or by the Indian Tribe) only for carrying out its responsibilities and authorities under this Act and for providing grants and loans to qualified watershed councils or other entities contributing to the applicable strategy. Requires such grants and loans to be used only to carry out projects contributing to the protection or restoration of rivers and associated watershed areas listed on the Registry. Authorizes the Secretary to arrange for the design, printing, and sale of river and watershed restoration stamps. Requires the net proceeds of all such sales to be retained by the Secretary and to be transferred to the revolving fund for the State in which such stamps are sold. Requires the Secretary, if stamps are sold in any State which has not established a revolving fund, to disburse such net proceeds to other States which have established such fund on a pro rata basis according to the volume of stamps sold in such other States. Provides for modified applicability of provisions governing the following with respect to projects or assistance for the protection or restoration of a river or associated watershed area which is listed on the Registry: (1) assistance from the Bureau of Reclamation; (2) the conservation reserve program; (3) the forestry incentives program; (4) the wetlands reserve program; (5) conservation easements; (6) the agricultural conservation program; (7) assistance from the National Park Service; and (8) assistance under the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978. (Sec. 309) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
NATO Expansion Act of 1994 - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to NATO membership of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Authorizes the President to establish a program to assist the transition to full NATO membership for Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and other European countries emerging from communist domination designated pursuant to this Act. Permits the President to provide specified security assistance to such countries, including excess defense articles, economic support fund assistance, international military education and training, and foreign military financing. Authorizes the President to provide additional assistance from the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund and Countries in Transition accounts. Permits the President to designate other European countries emerging from communist domination to receive assistance under this Act if he reports to the appropriate congressional committees that such countries: (1) have made significant progress toward establishing democratic institutions, free market economies, civilian control of their armed forces, and the rule of law; and (2) are likely to be in a position to further the principles of the North Atlantic Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area. Authorizes the President to confer, pursuant to agreement with any country eligible to participate in the Partnership for Peace, rights with respect to the military and related civilian personnel and activities of that country in the United States comparable to those conferred by that country with respect to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
Congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on the 27th anniversary of the reunification of that city. Calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to issue an unequivocal statement in support of the principle that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city and the capital of Israel in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Lower East Side Tenement Museum National Historic Site Act of 1994 - Designates the Lower East Side Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard Street, New York, New York, as a National Historic Site. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the Site with donated or appropriated funds, to enter into cooperative agreements with the Museum designed to assure preservation and interpretation of the Site, and to acquire properties owned, operated, or required by the Museum. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act - Prohibits foreign assistance funds from being used to provide assistance to any country for any portion of a fiscal year during which the country prohibits or restricts the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance to any other country. Makes such prohibition inapplicable if the President determines and notifies the Congress that providing assistance: (1) is in the national interest; or (2) will benefit directly non-military personnel who are in immediate danger resulting from a natural or manmade disaster (provided that such assistance is humanitarian assistance distributed directly to such personnel or through international relief organizations).
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
National Park Scenic Overflight Concessions Act of 1994 - Amends the National Park Service Concessions Policy Act to prohibit a person from flying an individual for compensation over a National Park System (NPS) unit to view any portion of the unit unless the person has in effect a valid commercial air tour permit issued by the Secretary of the Interior. Requires the Secretary to publish guidelines applicable to commercial air tour flights over NPS units providing for such flights where appropriate and restricting or prohibiting such flights where necessary. Authorizes the Secretary to amend the general management plan for any NPS unit to establish air concessions requirements applicable to flights subject to the permit requirements of this Act that: (1) document the degree to which commercial scenic overflights may affect the natural resources of the park unit concerned and the effects of such overflights on the park visitor's experience; and (2) propose measures necessary to protect park resources and the visitor's experience from the adverse effects of commercial scenic overflights. Imposes a fine and up to five years' imprisonment on any person who knowingly or willfully violates any requirement, rule, or regulation promulgated pursuant to this Act. Directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the Secretary, to develop: (1) standardized reporting systems for the documentation of low flying aircraft incidents in airspace over NPS units; and (2) training programs and instructional materials for National Park Service personnel to enable them to recognize and report such incidents. Requires the Administrator to amend the FAA regulations to treat aircraft noise abatement at NPS units as in the public interest. Directs the Administrator and the Secretary to report jointly to the Congress on the progress made under this Act and other authority of law in mitigating the adverse effects of commercial scenic overflights at NPS units.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Credit for Rural Business Enterprises Title II: Credit for Rural Infrastructure Title III: Credit for Rural Housing Rural Credit and Development Act of 1994 - Title I: Credit for Rural Business Enterprises - Amends the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to permit farm credit banks and production credit associations to purchase loans and loan interests from non-Farm Credit System institutions. Enlarges the scope of farm-related business for credit availability purposes. Authorizes banks for cooperatives to provide loans and other financial services to entities providing certain farm-related services or products under specified conditions. Title II: Credit for Rural Infrastructure - Authorizes Farm Credit banks to make community facility loans. Authorizes banks for cooperatives to finance utility-related services. Title III: Credit for Rural Housing - Enlarges rural housing credit availability by: (1) increasing eligible population areas; (2) increasing farm credit bank and production credit association loan portfolios for non-farmer rural housing loans; and (3) authorizing loans to rural residents for personal, family, or household needs other than housing finance.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Revitalizing Cities Through Parks Enhancement Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to eligible community organizations to establish urban open space and parks on municipally owned vacant lots. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
United States Botanic Garden Commemorative Coin Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the United States Botanic Garden; and (2) pay all surcharges received from such coin sales to the National Fund for the United States Botanic Garden.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Calls for the United States, at the International Conference on Population and Development, to: (1) place the highest priority on the success of the Conference by actively participating, particularly through the President's personal participation; (2) propose or support an initiative concerning the financing of global cooperation on efforts to slow rapid population growth that takes into account the costs of slowing growth and the basic development goals of developing countries and that increases accountability for the use of funds provided for family planning purposes; (3) seek to initiate a process of regular high-level intergovernmental consultations on the issues under consideration at the Conference and establish improved organizational and procedural means to implement its objectives; (4) support the effective implementation of a global action plan to raise the economic, educational, and leadership status of women and programs that provide maternal and child health care, education, and training for women and voluntary family planning; and (5) promote public participation, especially by women, at all levels of formulation and implementation of family planning and sustainable development policy and programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
A Child is Waiting Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation include guaranteed full funding for the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC); and (2) specified amounts should be made available to move toward such full funding goal.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1994
Governors Island Reinforcement Act of 1994 - Sets forth trade, assistance, and air transport sanctions against Haiti, and against other nations not cooperating with U.S. or international sanctions. Terminates such sanctions upon the reinstatement of the democratically elected President of Haiti and the military's meeting its obligation under the Governors Island Agreement. States congressional support for: (1) the return of human rights observers to Haiti; (2) the creation of a multinational border patrol between Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and (3) socioeconomic and peacekeeping assistance to Haiti. Directs the President to terminate the bilateral migrant interdiction agreement with Haiti. Provides for the nonrefoulement of Haitians by the United States. Grants temporary protected status under the Immigration and Nationality Act to qualifying Haitians. Excludes from U.S. admission, and blocks U.S. assets of, certain Haitians connected with the military or related activities.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1994
Contingency Fees in Lobbying Prohibition Act - Prohibits as of March 1, 1994, a person from making, on behalf of any person other than the United States, an oral or written communication to a Government entity with the intent to influence such entity with respect to the taking of legislative action by the Congress or its committees or the making or denial of an award, a grant, financial assistance, or a contract by a Government entity. Allows a person who paid a contingent fee or other compensation charged in violation of this Act to bring suit in a district court to recover such amounts. Establishes a six-year statute of limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1994
Pesticide Food Safety Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to exclude pesticide chemicals from the definition of "food additive." Modifies the circumstances in which the presence of a pesticide chemical residue renders a food adulterated. (Sec. 3) Replaces provisions relating to tolerance for pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities with provisions relating to tolerances and exemptions for pesticide chemical residues. Deems a pesticide chemical residue unsafe, unless it is within an established tolerance or an exemption is in effect. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a separate tolerance for a pesticide chemical residue with respect to food at the time the food is harvested, purchased at retail, and processed. Allows a tolerance only if the risk to human health from dietary exposure to the residue is negligible. Sets forth criteria for determining whether the risk is negligible. Requires, in determining dietary exposure, consideration of all other sources (including drinking water) of dietary exposure occurring over a lifetime. Sets forth a special exposure rule allowing, in certain circumstances, calculation of exposure to a food based on reliable data that provide the Administrator with a valid statistical basis to identify the percentage of the food in which the residue actually occurs. Requires, if a tolerance or exemption is revoked and the residue will unavoidably persist in the environment and contaminate food, that a new tolerance be established at the lowest level that permits only the unavoidable levels to remain in the food. Prohibits the issuance of a tolerance for any pesticide that contains an active or inert ingredient that is a known or probable human carcinogen or highly hazardous to human health. Allows: (1) establishment, modification, or revocation of a tolerance or establishment or revocation of an exemption from a tolerance in response to a petition or on the initiative of the Administrator; and (2) an exemption if the residue is not a human or animal carcinogen and otherwise presents no risk to human health from dietary exposure. Conditions establishment and continuation of a tolerance or exemption on the existence of a practical method of residue detection that can be performed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on a routine basis as part of surveillance and compliance sampling for residues. Allows any person to petition the Administrator for the establishment, modification, or revocation of a tolerance or exemption. Directs the Secretary to conduct surveillance and compliance sampling of food for pesticide chemical residues. (Sec. 4) Requires the Administrator to: (1) evaluate each existing tolerance or exemption; and (2) determine, for each method of detecting and measuring levels of residues, whether the method meets certain requirements of this Act. (Sec. 6) Mandates fees sufficient to provide, equip, and maintain adequate service with regard to the review of existing tolerances and exemptions and the review of methods of detecting and measuring levels of residues.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to provide that specified funds for employment and training assistance for dislocated workers shall be used to provide counseling and guidance relating to postsecondary education options for eligible dislocated workers, including information on public and private programs of student financial assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
Youth Development Block Grant Act of 1993 - Establishes a youth development block grant program. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth formulas for allocation of funds to States and for distribution of funds through State commissions to local boards for community-based youth development services. Requires establishment of county or multicounty Local Youth Development Boards to receive such assistance. Requires establishment of a State Youth Development Commission in each State desiring to receive such assistance. Establishes a National Youth Development Commission to advise the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services on implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue gold and silver coins emblematic of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Establishes the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Maintenance Fund to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior for Memorial-related purposes and to provide educational scholarships to the immediate family members of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty whose names appear on the Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise the formula for calculation of need for student assistance for dislocated workers by defining their income as that for the year for which the determination is made.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: One-Stop Career Center System Title III: National Labor Market Information System Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) a one-stop career center system; (3) a national labor market information system; and (4) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 212) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 213) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 214) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 215) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 216) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 218) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 233) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 234) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 235) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 236) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title III: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 401) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 402) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation Title III: One-Stop Career Center System Title IV: National Labor Market Information System Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) retraining income support and flexibility in unemployment compensation; (3) a one-stop career center system; (4) a national labor market information system; and (5) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation - Part A: Retraining Income Support Program - Establishes a retraining income support program to assist permanently laid-off individuals participating in long-term training programs. (Sec. 202) Sets forth eligibility requirements for tenured workers (who have been employed for more than three years before being permanently laid off) and for trade-impacted workers. Provides, at a later date, for additional eligibility coverage for workers who have been employed for more than one year but less than three years before being permanently laid-off. (Sec. 203) Sets forth formulae for determining weekly amounts of such assistance. (Sec. 204) Limits the maximum duration of such assistance to: (1) 52 weeks for individuals with three years or more of job tenure; and (2) 26 weeks for individuals with less than three years of job tenure. Provides for coordination with the extended unemployment compensation benefit program. (Sec. 205) Provides for agreements with States, administration absent State agreement, liabilities of certifying and disbursing officers, fraud and recovery of overpayments, and penalties. Part B: Retraining Income Support Account - Amends the Social Security Act to establish a Retraining Income Support Account in the Unemployment Trust Fund. Provides for transfers to such Account and transfers to States. (Sec. 222) Provides for funds to assist States in administering cash benefits for retraining income support. Part C: Financing Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the rate of the Federal unemployment tax. (Sec. 232) Provides for voluntary withholding of Federal individual income tax on unemployment and other benefits, including retraining income support. Requires States to provide for a system for deduction and withholding of Federal individual income tax from unemployment compensation upon the recipient's voluntary request. Part D: Integration of Trade-Impacted Workers into the Comprehensive Reemployment System - Phases out the trade adjustment assistance program. (Sec. 242) Establishes within the Department of Labor a temporary, transitional certification program to integrate trade-impacted workers into the comprehensive system of worker reemployment and retraining income support. Part E: Unemployment Compensation Flexibility - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow States, under their unemployment compensation programs, to conduct: (1) short-time compensation programs; (2) reemployment bonus programs. (Sec. 253) Amends the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act to repeal a sunset provision which would terminate the self-employment assistance program after five years. (Thus this Act extends such program indefinitely.) Title III: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 312) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 313) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 314) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 315) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 316) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 318) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 333) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 334) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 335) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 336) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title IV: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 403) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 501) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 502) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Secure Assurance for Families Everywhere (SAFE) Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a national registry of all child support orders maintaining an abstract of each order containing certain specified information. (Sec. 2) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require certain State procedures, including procedures for ensuring that: (1) a copy of each child support order issued, modified, or being enforced in the State is transmitted to the national registry; and (2) a notice of court or administrative review and, under certain conditions, a statement of arrears owed are included with each order transmitted. Requires the national registry, upon the receipt from an employer of a W-4 form completed by an employee, to report to the employer information on: (1) whether the employee is subject to a child support order for wage withholding; and (2) the aggregate amount of support involved. (Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary to establish a system for enabling such information, as well as information identifying the person to whom any child support is owed, to be obtained at the workplace via W-4 form reporting by employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require employers to deduct and withhold child support obligations from employee wages, pay withholdings to the Secretary, forward individual W-4 forms to the national registry, and include withheld obligations on the employee's W-2 form; (2) require individuals with monthly shortfalls in child support payments because of inadequate wage withholding to make payments directly to the Secretary, with the full amount due by the end of the applicable tax year subject to the same collection process and penalties applicable to back taxes; and (3) provide for a tax credit for withholdings and payments in excess of applicable obligations. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to pay to the appropriate payee on a monthly basis a portion of the amount of child support received on account of an obligation payable to such payee, plus a child support assurance benefit for payees cooperating in establishing the support order and child paternity. Disregards the first $100 of such benefit for purposes of AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) benefits. (Sec. 7) Amends SSA title IV part D to require: (1) individuals applying for child support collection or paternity determination services under the State part D plan who are not otherwise eligible for such services to use a new Federal application form in applying for such services; (2) such plans to provide for ongoing outreach programs to persons eligible for plan services; and (3) the separate organizational unit under the direction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' designee to issue regulations for ensuring State plans for serving underserved populations and accommodations for assisting non-English speaking persons and the hearing impaired. (Sec. 8) Establishes the Commission on Child Support Guidelines to recommend to the Congress national child support guidelines to be followed by State courts and administrative bodies in setting child support award amounts. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish by a certain deadline the requirements already required to be established under current law for the staffing of State child support programs; (2) streamline the process for conducting child support audits; and (3) jointly issue with the Secretary of the Treasury regulations governing coordination of State child support collection activities with those of the IRS. Provides for an increase in the Federal matching rate as an incentive for States increasing paternity establishment and meeting staffing requirements with regard to their child support programs. Adds: (1) maintenance of effort requirements for State child support and AFDC programs; and (2) additional specified requirements with respect to procedures for paternity establishment and paternity acknowledgment affidavits.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any national health care reform legislation should cover syringes for those individuals with diabetes who require the administration of insulin by syringe.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1994
Urban Recreation and At-Risk Youth Act of 1994 - Amends the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide, through the urban park and recreation recovery program, at-risk youth recreation grants in neighborhoods and communities with a high prevalence of crime, particularly violent crime or crime committed by youth, for purposes including the provision of lighting, emergency phones, or other capital improvements for the security of urban parks. Directs the Secretary to give grant priority to local government programs meeting specified criteria, including: (1) targeting youth at the greatest risk of becoming involved in violence and crime; (2) teaching important values and life skills; (3) offering education and counseling in addition to recreation opportunities; and (4) showing the greatest potential of being continued with non-Federal funds or serving as models. Requires local governments, to be eligible for such grants, to include strategies to reduce crime and juvenile delinquency in their five-year action programs for park and recreation recovery. Requires no more than 25 percent of Federal grant funds made available under such Act to be used for program support. Repeals provisions limiting the duration of the urban park and recreation recovery program to five years.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
National Community Health Advisor Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for each State or State-designated entity that submits an appropriate application, to award financial assistance for the development and operation of community health advisor (CHA) programs. Requires such States to: (1) operate a clearinghouse to maintain and disseminate information on CHA programs; (2) provide technical assistance for training CHAs; and (3) coordinate all CHA activities carried out by the State under the award. Limits administrative costs to 15 percent of the total award. Provides CHA program objectives and goals. Requires funding agreements for such awards to give priority to developing and operating CHA programs for medically underserved communities (poor rural and inner city areas). Requires a State to provide matching funds of 25 percent of award amounts toward such programs. Requires a CHA program in a State to be carried out in at least one urban area and one rural area. Requires ongoing supervision of CHAs involved in the program. Allows for expenditures under the award for training and continuing education programs. Requires reports from State applicants to the Secretary assessing the effectiveness of CHA programs. Provides for the determination of the amount allotted to each chosen applicant, taking into account the population and poverty level of the area involved. Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines for quality assurance and cost-effectiveness of the CHA programs, requiring evaluations of each such program. Prohibits this Act from being construed to require the Secretary to modify or terminate the Community Health Representative Program of the Indian Health Service.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
Tax Fairness for Displaced Workers Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit qualified separation payments to be included in gross income ratably over a four-year period.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1994
Protection from Sexual Predators Act of 1994 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should: (1) more seriously consider the relatively high recidivism rate of sexual offenders when deciding whether to plea bargain with first-time sexual offenders and whether to grant parole to sexual offenders; and (2) review their treatment and parole supervision programs for sexual offenders to assure that such programs are fulfilling their goals. Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that whoever violates provisions regarding aggravated sexual abuse (or engages in conduct in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce that would be a violation of such provisions if the offense had occurred in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States) after previously having been convicted of another State or Federal sexual abuse offense (or conduct which would have been such an offense if the offense had occurred in such jurisdiction) shall be imprisoned for life. Directs the Attorney General to establish guidelines for State programs requiring: (1) any person who is convicted of a sex offense to register and keep up to date a current address with a designated State law enforcement agency (LEA) for ten years after being released from prison or placed on parole, supervised release, or probation; and (2) each State to provide information obtained about the registered person to the Attorney General on a prompt and regular basis and in a uniform format. Requires the Attorney General to: (1) maintain on-line availability of information obtained under this Act for use by authorized LEAs in carrying out their functions; and (2) provide for the privacy of such information. Directs each State to implement the registration provisions within three years. Makes States not in compliance after such time subject to a reduction of funds under title I (drug control and system improvement grants) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. Requires the National Institute of Justice to carry out a study of persistent sexual predators and to report to the Congress and the President.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1994
Condemns the Hebron massacre and all acts of terror intended to disrupt the peace process or for any other purposes. Commends the Government of Israel for its strong condemnation of the Hebron killings, for reaching out to the victims' families, for taking swift and appropriate action to respond to the threat posed by the extremists, and for pledging its commitment to proceed immediately with resuming the peace talks. Supports President Clinton's efforts to reinvigorate the peace process. Urges all parties and others involved in the Middle East peace talks to apply renewed energy to achieve their prompt and just conclusion within the framework of the September 13, 1993, Declaration of Principles.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1994
Piscataway National Park Expansion Act of 1994 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire specified land to be added to the Piscataway National Park, Maryland. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any national health care reform legislation should cover all preventive and treatment services relating to breast and cervical cancers, sexually transmitted diseases, and general gynecological services, including several specified services.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exclude from coverage any fire fighters or rescue squad members during the period in which they volunteer their services at a location where they are not employed. Waives overtime compensation requirements when fire fighters or rescue squad members volunteer their services to their employer and sign a legally binding waiver. Prohibits employer coercion of such volunteering.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Designates March 23, 1994, the 92d birthday of the Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (leader of the worldwide Lubavitch movement), as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Fair Market Access Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report annually to the Congress an assessment of the access to the Japanese market of goods and services produced or originating in the United States in each sector specifically identified in the Japan-United States Framework for a New Economic Partnership signed on July 10, 1993 (Framework Agreement). Specifies contents of such access assessments. Authorizes the President to enter into agreements or other understandings with Japan for the purpose of obtaining the market access opportunities described in such assessments. Requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to determine for which sectors identified in each assessment to pursue negotiations in order to conclude such agreements or understandings. Directs the Secretary to monitor compliance with each agreement or understanding between the United States and Japan reached under this Act, as well as with existing trade agreements between both countries. Deems an unreasonable and discriminatory act, policy, or practice burdening or restricting U.S. commerce each barrier to access to the Japanese market that is the subject of negotiations under this Act which fail to conclude an agreement or understanding. Requires the USTR to determine what "Super 301" sanction to impose in response to such acts, policies, or practices, as well as in instances of material noncompliance with new or existing agreements or understandings.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Commends: (1) the President of Guatemala, Ramiro de Leon Carpio, and the leaders of the Guatemalan National Revoluntionary Union for establishing a framework for formal negotiations to bring an end to the internal armed conflict and set Guatemala on the road to democracy; and (2) the leaders of the various segments of civilian society, under the leadership of Bishop Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, for their role in articulating the concerns of all sectors of Guatemalan society and for bringing critical issues onto the agenda of the peace negotiations. Calls on: (1) the Group of Friends of the peace negotiations (Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Venezuela, Norway, and the United States) to continue and intensify their support of such negotiations; (2) President de Leon Carpio to develop a measurable and substantive plan to end human rights abuses and disband the Civil Self-Defense Patrols, to ensure the safety of the returnees, and to recognize the civilian character of the Communities of Populations in Resistance; and (3) the executive branch of the U.S. Government to condition all assistance to Guatemala, except for humanitarian and development assistance, on full compliance with recommended measures of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, on continuation of the peace process, on substantive improvement in the protection of human rights, on the dissolution of the Patrols, on the guaranteed safety of refugees, returnees, and the internally displaced, on verifiable resolution of the Devine, Ortiz, and Mack cases, and on the strengthening of the various segments of civilian society.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1994
Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1994 - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue by rule a fire safety standard for cigarettes. Prohibits stockpiling of cigarettes between the issuing and effective dates of the standard. Provides for judicial review of the standard. Prohibits manufacture or importing of cigarettes unless in compliance with such standard. States that this Act and the standard issued under it does not preempt any law of a State which prescribes a more stringent fire safety standard for cigarettes.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1994
1995 Special Olympics World Games Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the 1995 Special Olympics World Games. Mandates that the surcharges collected from the sale of such coins be paid to the 1995 Special Olympics World Games Organizing Committee, Inc.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any comprehensive health care reform legislation should include annual screenings of children under age six for lead poisoning.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Provisions Title II: Policy Coordination and Technology Programs Subtitle A: Policy Coordination and Program Planning Subtitle B: Environmental Technology Innovation Initiative Subtitle C: Other Research Activities Title III: Performance Measurements Title IV: Authorization of Appropriations Title I: General Provisions - Environmental Technologies Act of 1994 - Sets forth congressional findings and purposes. Title II: Policy Coordination and Technology Programs - Subtitle A: Policy Coordination and Program Planning - Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to: (1) ensure the coordinated, interagency promotion of the research, development, integration, and deployment of environmental technologies; and (2) develop priorities for Federal environmental technology efforts. (Sec. 202) Requires the Director to coordinate Federal activities and resources that are applied to life-cycle assessment in order to maximize the contribution of such assessments to the efficient design, development, and use of such technologies and to sustainable economic development. (Sec. 203) Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to include goals for sustainable economic development within technology innovation programs. Includes such goals in other existing programs under specified Acts. Subtitle B: Environmental Technology Innovation Initiative - Establishes an Environmental Innovation Initiative, to be administered by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to promote the research, development, integration, and deployment of technologies that will contribute to sustainable economic development. Includes programs established under this Act in the Initiative. Provides assistance to eligible entities. (Sec. 211) Requires the Administrator to encourage the participation of socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and entities located in economically depressed areas in carrying out the Initiative. (Sec. 212) Directs the Administrator to conduct an interagency innovative environmental technology program to develop or demonstrate advanced precommercial environmental technologies. Makes U.S. companies and partnerships eligible for financial assistance for projects subject to certain conditions. (Sec. 213) Establishes the President's Total Environmental Quality Award to be awarded periodically to companies and other organizations which have benefited the United States through environmental technologies. Establishes a National Environmentally Sound Technology Award for individuals who have pioneered the development and use of a highly innovative environmental technology. (Sec. 214) Directs the Administrator to use existing information network capabilities to provide access to data on environmental technologies developed, tested, or verified by programs under this Act and by other appropriate sources. (Sec. 215) Requires the Administrator to establish a program to demonstrate the performance of environmental technologies at Federal laboratories and facilities. (Sec. 216) Directs the Administrator to enter into an agreement with the National Research Council to study the influences on technological innovation in environmental technologies of economic, governmental, and other incentives and barriers. Subtitle C: Other Research Activities - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support research activities that will advance the integration of engineering practices and environmental protection in the development of advanced technologies. (Sec. 222) Directs the Administrator to submit a strategic plan for interagency coordination of Federal programs related to innovative environmental control and remediation technologies. Title III: Performance Measurements - Requires the Secretary of Commerce, through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to establish a program that provides for performance measurements for environmental technology products. (Sec. 302) Authorizes the Administrator to designate entities to perform environmental technology verification. (Sec. 303) Requires the President to establish a program for evaluating and approving the purchase by the Federal Government of environmental technology products. Title IV: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1994
Urban Watershed Restoration Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a National Urban Watershed Restoration Program to be administered by each State which has a demonstrated successful urban river restoration program or by the Regional EPA Administrator in States without such programs. Allocates at least 25 percent of funds made available for nonpoint source pollution management to the Program. Provides for grants and technical assistance for projects meeting this Act's requirements. Limits the Federal share of a project's cost to 60 percent of the total cost. Sets forth conditions for project selection. Gives priority to projects that assist in the: (1) meeting of municipal stormwater discharge and combined sewer overflow permit program requirements; (2) implementation of national estuary plans; and (3) development and implementation of stream protection measures and monitoring. Establishes other factors with respect to priority consideration, including that a project will be carried out in a low-income area and will correct a problem which contributes to economic, social, and environmental degradation. Lists projects eligible for funding under the Program.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1994
Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to direct the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to require a fair and equitable arrangement for protection of the interests of railroad employees who may be affected by an ICC order approving an application for construction or acquisition and operation of a railroad line. Requires such arrangement to be no less fair and beneficial to the interests of such employees than those established under specified provisions for employee protective arrangements in transactions involving rail carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Interstate Banking and Branching Title II: CRA Evaluations Interstate Banking Efficiency Act of 1994 - Title I: Interstate Banking and Branching - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to prescribe guidelines under which the Federal Reserve Board may approve applications by bank holding companies to acquire voting shares or interests in additional insured depository institutions or banking holding companies located in any State (State law to the contrary notwithstanding). Amends Federal banking law to prescribe guidelines under which the Comptroller of the Currency may approve applications by adequately capitalized and adequately managed national banks to acquire and operate interstate branches. Authorizes the States, by a specified deadline, to: (1) either permit or prohibit interstate branching by national or State banks; and (2) set conditions upon such branching. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to: (1) prohibit a State nonmember insured bank from establishing and operating any new domestic branch or foreign branch without the prior written consent of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); and (2) set forth parameters within which adequately managed insured State banks may engage in interstate branching. Permits the States to coordinate their bank examination and regulatory activities. Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 to prescribe guidelines under which foreign banks may establish interstate banking operations. Amends the FDIA to authorize the interstate consolidation or merger of bank holding company subsidiary banks, subject to prescribed guidelines. Conditions approval of such consolidation upon submission by the applicant of a plan for meeting the credit needs of the local communities served by the merger. Requires Federal banking regulatory agencies to prescribe regulations which: (1) prohibit any person from engaging in interstate branching primarily for the purpose of deposit production; (2) include guidelines to ensure that each interstate branch meets the credit needs of its local community and market area; and (3) restrict the ratio of out-of-State loans by interstate branches. Title II: CRA Evaluations - Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to require the appropriate Federal financial supervisory agency to prepare written State-by-State evaluations of the performance records of financial institutions with interstate branches.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Housing Assistance Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Public and Indian Housing Subtitle C: Section 8 Assistance Subtitle D: Homeownership Programs Subtitle E: Other Programs Title II: Home Investment Partnerships Title III: Supportive Housing Programs Title IV: Mortgage Insurance and Secondary Mortgage Market Subtitle A: Mortgage Insurance and Loan Guarantee Programs Subtitle B: Multifamily Housing Property Disposition Subtitle C: Secondary Mortgage Market Programs Subtitle D: Emergency Mortgage Relief Title V: Rural Housing Title VI: Community Development Subtitle A: Community Development Block Grant Program Subtitle B: Other Community Development Programs Title VII: Regulatory and Miscellaneous Programs Title VIII: Housing Programs Under Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act Subtitle A: Housing Assistance Subtitle B: Interagency Council on the Homeless Subtitle C: Federal Emergency Management Food and Shelter Program Housing and Community Development Act of 1994 - Title I: Housing Assistance - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to increase low-income housing budget authority. Sets forth assistance uses. (Sec. 103) Authorizes appropriations for the family self-sufficiency program. Subtitle B: Public and Indian Housing - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to temporarily exclude earned income of a previously unemployed family member from public housing rent determinations. (Sec. 113) Extends set-aside authority for public housing for disabled families. (Sec. 114) Extends authority for construction of projects for disabled families. (Sec. 115) Authorizes appropriations for public housing operating subsidies. (Sec. 119) Authorizes appropriations for public housing resident management. (Sec. 120) Authorizes appropriations for public housing family investment centers. (Sec. 121) Amends the revitalization of severely distressed public housing program to: (1) increase individual planning grant ceilings; (2) increase implementation grant support services ceilings; and (3) add community service activities as eligible planning and implementation grant activities. (Sec. 122) Applies public housing amendments to Indian housing. (Sec. 123) Amends the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 to authorize appropriations for public housing early childhood development services. (Sec. 124) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize appropriations for: (1) Indian housing childhood development services; and (2) public housing one-stop perinatal services demonstration. Subtitle C: Section 8 Assistance - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize appropriations for the moving to opportunity for fair housing demonstration program, including counseling activities set-asides. (Sec. 142) Amends the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 to authorize appropriations for the community investment demonstration program. (Sec. 143) Merges the section 8 certificate and voucher rental assistance programs into a single rental assistance program. Subtitle D: Homeownership Programs - Amends the Cranston - Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize appropriations for the HOPE multifamily unit and single family homeownership programs. Reduces recipient matching funds requirements. (Sec. 152) Extends the termination date and authorizes appropriations for the National Homeownership Trust Fund. Subtitle E: Other Programs - Amends the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 to entitle chapter 124 of such Act as the Community Partnerships Against Crime Act of 1994. Authorizes grants to public housing agencies (including Indian housing agencies) and to nonprofit and for-profit owners of federally-assisted low-income housing for crime elimination activities. Increases the grant period for public housing agencies with severe crime problems. Authorizes appropriations, with technical assistance set-asides. (Sec. 162) Authorizes appropriations for public housing youth sports programs. (Sec. 163) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 to authorize appropriations for low-income housing preservation, with set-asides for grants and technical assistance and capacity building. (Sec. 164) Amends the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 to authorize appropriations for the flexible subsidy program. (Sec. 165) Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to authorize appropriations for specified housing counseling services. (Sec. 166) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 with regard to multifamily housing projects to: (1) authorize operating assistance and capital improvement assistance for troubled projects, and loan management assistance; (2) set aside allocations for incentives to extend low-income use; and (3) revise the refinancing program. Directs the General Accounting Office (GAO) to evaluate the adequacy of specified loan loss reserves and recommend steps to prevent future losses. (Sec. 167) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize appropriations for the youthbuild program. Title II: Home Investment Partnerships - Amends the Cranston - Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act with regard to the home investment partnerships program to: (1) authorize appropriations; (2) make State agencies eligible participants; (3) revise income targeting, resale, and matching provisions; (4) eliminate the first-time homebuyer requirement; and (5) permit the use of community development block grant (CDBG) funds for certain program expenses. Requires a GAO study of HOME program funds. Title III: Supportive Housing Programs - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize appropriations for supportive housing for the elderly and for persons with disabilities. (Sec. 302) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to set aside funds for the elder cottage housing demonstration program. (Sec. 303) Authorizes appropriations for the revised congregate services program. (Sec. 304) Authorizes appropriations for the elderly independence demonstration program. (Sec. 305) Authorizes appropriations for the housing opportunities for persons with AIDS program. Makes program revisions, including making certain non-profit organizations eligible participants. (Sec. 306) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to authorize appropriations for service coordinators. Title IV: Mortgage Insurance and Secondary Mortgage Market - Subtitle A: Mortgage Insurance and Loan Guarantee Programs - Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to enter into (limited) commitments to insure mortgages. (Sec. 402) Extends the Federal Housing Administration Advisory Board's termination date. (Sec. 403) Extends the program of home equity conversion mortgages for elderly homeowners. (Sec. 404) Extends and revises the risk sharing multifamily mortgage pilot program and the housing finance agency pilot program. Authorizes appropriations for the National Interagency Task Force on Multifamily Housing. (Sec. 405) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize appropriations for the Indian Housing Loan Guarantee Fund. Subtitle B: Multifamily Housing Property Disposition - Multifamily Housing Property Disposition Reform Act - Amends the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 to revise provisions regarding the management and disposition of Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - held multifamily properties and mortgages. Subtitle C: Secondary Mortgage Market Programs - Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to authorize the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) to issue guarantees of mortgage-backed securities. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Emergency Mortgage Relief - Amends the Emergency Homeowners' Relief Act to extend and authorize appropriations for emergency mortgage relief assistance. Title V: Rural Housing - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to extend and authorize appropriations for specified rural housing and related programs. (Sec. 510) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a rural housing capacity demonstration program for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. (Sec. 511) Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance for rural community development initiatives. (Sec. 512) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a rural housing loan delegated processing demonstration program. Title VI: Community Development - Subtitle A: Community Development Block Grant Program - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize appropriations for: (1) the community development block grant program; and (2) special purpose grants. (Sec. 603) Extends authority for the Section 108 loan guarantee program. (Sec. 609) Extends authority for the colonias program. Subtitle B: Other Community Development Programs - Amends the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act to authorize appropriations for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. (Sec. 632) Amends the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 to authorize appropriations for the John Heinz neighborhood development program. Title VII: Regulatory and Miscellaneous Programs - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 to authorize appropriations for the fair housing initiatives program. (Sec. 702) Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to authorize appropriations for HUD program monitoring and research. (Sec. 703) Authorizes appropriations for HUD salaries and expenses. (Sec. 705) Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 to authorize appropriations for HUD research and development. (Sec. 706) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize additional appropriations for the National Institute of Building Sciences. (Sec. 707) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize appropriations for residential lead-based paint hazard reduction. (Sec. 708) Authorizes appropriations for the New Towns demonstration program for emergency relief of Los Angeles, including mortgage and community development assistance. (Sec. 709) Authorizes appropriations for the Solar Assistance Financing Entity. (Sec. 710) Authorizes appropriations for the National American Indian Housing Council. (Sec. 711) Authorizes appropriations for the Housing Assistance Council. Title VIII: Housing Programs Under Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act - Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Housing Assistance Amendments Act of 1994 - Subtitle A: Housing Assistance - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to authorize appropriations for the emergency shelter grants program. (Sec. 812) Authorizes appropriations for the supportive housing program. (Sec. 813) Authorizes appropriations for the safe havens for homeless individuals demonstration program. (Sec. 814) Increases budget authority for section 8 assistance for single room occupancy dwellings. (Sec. 815) Authorizes appropriations for the shelter plus care program. (Sec. 816) Authorizes appropriations for the rural homelessness grant program. (Sec. 817) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to extend the time for the Secretary to develop and publish a strategy for the elimination of unfit transient facilities. (Sec. 818) Amends the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 to extend and authorize appropriations for the innovative homeless initiatives demonstration program. Subtitle B: Interagency Council on the Homeless - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to extend and authorize appropriations for the Interagency Council on the Homeless. Subtitle C: Federal Emergency Management Food and Shelter Program - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to authorize appropriations for the Federal emergency food and shelter program.
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