United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1989
Agricultural Extended Retirement Credit Act of 1990 - Extends creditable service under the Civil Service Retirement System for periods of service in certain Federal-State cooperative programs which had agricultural or related purposes. Establishes a hiring limitation period of four fiscal years after 60 days following enactment of this Act on the replacement of retirees in the United States Department of Agriculture. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of any budget authority or outlays saved in any fiscal year by reason of reduced pay and personnel resulting from implementation of this Act. Requires that the budget authority and outlays thus saved: (1) be carried to the surplus fund of the Department of Agriculture and deposited by the Secretary of Agriculture in the Treasury to the credit of the Civil Service Retirement Fund, as a Government contribution; and (2) credited against pay and other personnel costs required to be sequestered under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the Comptroller General to notify the Congress, of of each instance of noncompliance with the requirements of this Act. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to report to the Congress on an evaluation of the extended credit retirement program and the limitation on replacement of retirees provided under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1989
Economic Equity Act of 1989 - Title I: Employment - Subtitle A: Pay Equity Technical Assistance to Public and Private Sector - Pay Equity Technical Assistance Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop and implement a continuing program of information dissemination, research, and technical assistance to public and private entities with respect to correction of wage-setting practices, and reduction or elimination of wage disparities, to the extent that they are based on the sex, race, or national origin of the employee, rather than on the work performed and other appropriate factors. Subtitle B: Legislative Pay Equity Commission and Study - Establishes a Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch. Directs the Commission to: (1) employ a nongovernmental consultant to study the compensation paid to Library of Congress personnel and analyze personnel policies of the Library; (2) evaluate the compensation system of the Library for compliance with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and make any recommendations needed to achieve compliance; (3) develop a plan for the application of title VII throughout the legislative branch; and (4) make recommendations to the Congress for improvement of personnel policies and practices in the legislative branch. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress 18 months after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of the final report. Subtitle C: Extension of Benefits to Part-Time and Temporary Workers - Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to bring certain part-time employees within the participation, vesting, and accrual rules governing pension plans. Addresses any employee who, within a relevant 12-month period: (1) has customarily completed more than 500 but fewer than 1,000 hours of service; or (2) is employed in a type of position in which employment customarily consists of such a number of hours. Provides that completion of such hours of service will be treated as completion of 1,000 hours of service (thereby bringing the employee within the ERISA benefit framework). Permits a reduction in the employer-provided premium under a group health plan in the case of a part-time employee only when such employee: (1) has customarily completed fewer than 30 hours of service per week; or (2) is employed in a type of position in which employment customarily consists of such a number of hours. Limits such a premium reduction, when permissible, to not less than a ratable portion of the premium ordinarily provided in the case of an employee who completes 30 hours of service per week. Revises the ERISA definition of "employee" to include non-employees who, pursuant to a contract or agreement, provide employee-like services to an employer for at least one year at the rate of 500 or more hours per year. Subtitle D: Federal Council on Women - Federal Council on Women Act - Establishes a Federal Council on Women to: (1) collect and evaluate information with respect to any problems that are particular to women in the United States; (2) review and evaluate Federal policy related to any such problems; (3) coordinate the activities of the Council with similar activities conducted by States, local governments, and concerned organizations; and (4) make recommendations. Directs the Council to report its findings and recommendations to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Maintenance of Sex Equity Set-Asides in Vocational Education Programs - Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act (the Act) to include displaced homemakers in the vocational education program for single parents or homemakers. Makes single pregnant women eligible for such program. Directs the administrator of such program, and of the sex equity program, to: (1) distribute to community-based organizations the State allotment for such programs on a competitive basis; and (2) develop procedures for appropriate data collection from fund recipients for program evaluation. Requires States to: (1) develop an annual plan for use of funds; (2) manage funds distribution; (3) monitor recipients' use of funds; and (4) evaluate program effectiveness. Provides for pre-vocational services to single parents, single pregnant women, homemakers, and displaced homemakers. Allows use of funds for dependent care (currently only child care) as part of such services. Directs the Secretary of Education to conduct biennial oversight visits to the States to determine if funds for programs for single parents, single pregnant women, and for elimination of sex bias and stereotyping in secondary and postsecondary education are being allocated, distributed, and used in accordance with the Act. Provides that assistance under the Act shall not effect an individual's eligibility for assistance under other Federal programs. Directs the General Accounting Office, within 18 months, to conduct a study of State compliance with specified assurances required under the Act. Subtitle F: Women in Business Procurement Assistance - Women's Business Procurement Assistance Act of 1989 - Amends the Small Business Act to add to existing goals for participation of small business concerns in Federal procurement contracts the participation of small business concerns owned and controlled by women. Requires the head of each Federal agency to report to the Small Business Administration (SBA) on the extent that small business concerns owned and controlled by women participate in procurement contracts and subcontracts. Declares it is the policy of the United States that small business concerns owned and controlled by women shall have the maximum opportunity to participate in the performance of contracts and subcontracts let by any Federal agency. Precludes the award of any contract unless the procurement authority determines that the offeror's plan includes the maximum opportunity for participation of small business concerns owned and controlled by women. Authorizes any Federal agency, when dealing with negotiated contracts, to provide such incentives as it may deem appropriate in order to encourage subcontracting opportunities for small business concerns owned and controlled by women. Requires the SBA to report annually to certain congressional committees on subcontracting plans found acceptable by any Federal agency which the SBA determines do not contain maximum opportunities for small business concerns owned and controlled by women. Requires the Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization for each Federal agency to designate an employee of that Director's office to be a Women-in-Business Specialist. Requires each Federal agency having procurement powers to affirmatively solicit offers from small business concerns owned and controlled by women and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Title II: Economic Security - Subtitle A: Earnings Sharing by Married Couples - Social Security Modernization Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the combined earnings of a married couple which are attributable to the period of their marriage shall be shared equally between them for purposes of determining the eligibility for and amount of OASDI benefits to which each spouse is or may become separately entitled. Credits the survivor of the marriage with 100 percent of the combined total wages for the period of the marriage. Provides that this subtitle shall not apply in specified cases where it would result in a reduction of OASDI benefits. Subtitle B: Treatment of Disabled Widows and Widowers - Social Security Disabled Widow's and Widower's Equity Act of 1989 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal the separate definition of disability applicable to widows and widowers. Permits the months of a widow's or widower's entitlement to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits (title XVI of the Social Security Act) on the basis of a disability to be counted towards the 24 months needed to become entitled to hospital insurance benefits under Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) on that basis. Provides full widow's or widower's insurance benefits to disabled widows or widowers without regard to age. Amends the SSI program to preserve the Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) eligibility of disabled widows or widowers who become ineligible for SSI benefits upon the implementation of this Act's amendments making them eligible for, or increasing their, widow's or widower's insurance benefits. Amends the OASDI program to extend the time period during which a surviving spouse or a surviving divorced spouse must have initially become disabled in order to qualify for widow's or widower's insurance benefits before reaching age 60 in cases where such surviving spouse or surviving divorced spouse has quarters of coverage based on his or her own work after the death of the insured individual on whose wages such benefits are based. Subtitle C: Private Pension Reform - Pension Reform Act of 1989 - Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to extend to all accrued benefits existing in plan year 1989 and thereafter the amendments made with regard to the nondiscriminatory coordination of defined contribution plans with Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI). Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to repeal provisions that permit a certain disparity in simplified employee pension plan contributions with respect to nondiscriminatory coordination with OASDI. Provides for the repeal, effective for plan year 2000 and thereafter, of IRC rules with respect to: (1) the nondiscriminatory coordination of defined contribution plans with OASDI; and (2) pension integration exceptions. Amends the IRC to establish distinct minimum employee coverage requirements applicable in cases when an employer with respect to a plan is treated as operating a single line of business. Requires such a plan to benefit all the employer's employees. Limits the exception to minimum coverage requirements available to employers treated as operating separate lines of business for a year. Amends the IRC and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to eliminate the special vesting requirements governing multiemployer plans. Directs the Comptroller General of the United States, as soon as possible after this Act's enactment, to undertake thorough studies with respect to: (1) possible methods of requiring employee pension plans to provide cost of living and other adjustments to plan benefits; and (2) potential pension portability mechanisms, including ways to preserve and enhance the real value of deferred vested pension benefits. Lists specific items to be addressed in each study. Requires submission of the studies to specified congressional committees within two years of this Act's enactment. Subtitle D: Eligibility of Displaced Homemakers for First-Time Homebuyers Assistance - Displaced Homemakers and Single Parents Homeownership Assistance Act - States that displaced homemakers and single parents shall not be deemed ineligible for Federal assistance for first-time homebuyers on the basis of previous home ownership or residence while married or a homemaker. Subtitle E: Section 8 Housing Assistance for Domestic Violence Victims - Family Housing Options Program Act of 1989 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to reserve at least five percent of section 8 housing assistance for families affected by domestic violence and for homeless families. Requires administration of such program through the local public housing agencies. Permits assistance to be used in shared housing arrangements if the family receiving assistance so consents. States that rent contributions made by a family in such an arrangement shall not be considered income to the participating family for purposes of specified housing assistance eligibility. Includes among State allocation factors the number of transitional and emergency shelters, domestic violence shelters, and the number of families served by such programs. Requires: (1) each State to make an annual program report to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and (2) the Secretary to include a summary of such reports in the annual section 8 report. Title III: Dependent Care - Subtitle A: Quality Child Care Demonstration Projects - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to not more than ten eligible public agencies and private entities, in urban and rural areas, to administer child development models to increase the quality and availability of child care services. Defines "child development model," with respect to child care services, as an entity capable of providing training and on-going assistance to satellites that provide child care services to sick children or exceptional children, and which is either: (1) a child care development center providing services at a single site (or at multiple sites in reasonably close proximity) to infants, toddlers, preschool children, and school-age children; or (2) a high quality child care program capable of recruiting, training, supporting, and monitoring family child care providers. Directs the Secretary to report by April 1, 1992, to the Congress on such program. Subtitle B: Dependent Care Tax Credit Expansion - Repeals the Internal Revenue Code's nonrefundable income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses, replacing it with a corresponding refundable 50 percent credit, reduced (but not below 20 percent) as the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $15,000 (adjusted for inflation). Includes within the scope of the new credit up to $1,200 ($2,400 in the case of more than one qualifying individual) of respite care expenses incurred in the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is at least 15 years old; or (2) a spouse or other dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. Subtitle C: Mortgage Financing for Family Day Care Centers - Small Day Care Center Assistance Act - Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act to define the term "mortgage" to include a mortgage secured by a one-to-four family residential property that is occupied as a residence and in which child care service is legally provided. Subtitle D: Flexible Work Force Tax Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an employer tax credit (to a maximum of two percent of wages) for one-third of the aggregate wages (to a maximum of $6,000) attributable to services performed by a full-time employee of the taxpayer who is permitted to work at home or during nonbusiness hours solely in order to reduce dependent care needs. Requires that there be at least a 20 percent reduction in the time of dependent care provided outside the employee's home. Terminates these provisions, subject to exception, after December 31, 1993. Subtitle E: Child Care Services in Transitional Housing - Transitional Housing Child Care Services Act - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide child care assistance for transitional housing residents. Subtitle F: Title XX Funding Increase - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to increase the amount authorized for such program in FY 1991 and thereafter. Subtitle G: School-Based Child Care - State Dependent Care Grants Amendments Act of 1989 - Amends the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act to authorize the use of funds for operation of school-age child care services before and after school. Requires that such amounts be earmarked to enable children whose families lack adequate financial resources to participate in before or after school child care programs. Requires State Governors to include specified information in their reports on programs assisted under such Act. Extends until September 30, 1993, the period during which descriptions of intended uses of State allotments must be revised to reflect substantial changes. Title IV: Health - Subtitle A: Breast Cancer Prevention - Older Women's Breast Cancer Prevention Act of 1989 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the cap on coverage of screening mammography. Subtitle B: Maternal and Child Health Funding Increase - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to increase authorized appropriations for such program. Requires States, as a condition of receiving additional funds, to conduct a statewide needs assessment of maternity and infant care, including prenatal care and prevention of low birthweight and infant mortality, and to develop a plan to meet those needs. Changes State reporting requirements to monitor plan implementation results. Subtitle C: Infant Mortality Education and Health Services in Public Housing - Public Housing One-Stop Perinatal Services Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a program to demonstrate the effectiveness of grants to public housing agencies for providing facilities for one-stop perinatal services programs for pregnant women who reside in public housing. Sets forth preferences in selecting the agencies to receive grants. Limits the aggregate amount provided under these provisions for any public housing project to a specified sum. Requires services and facilities provided or assisted with grants under these provisions to comply with all applicable State and local laws, regulations, and ordinances, and all requirements established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for such services and facilities. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Domestic Violence Judiciary Training Grants - Amends the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 to authorize the use of Institute funds to conduct up to five projects to: (1) investigate and carry out research regarding State judicial decisions relating to child custody litigation involving domestic violence; (2) develop training curricula to assist State courts to develop an understanding of, and appropriate responses to, child custody litigation involving domestic violence; and (3) disseminate the results of such investigation and research and the curricula to State courts. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1992. Subtitle E: Sense of Congress on Child Custody - Expresses the sense of the Congress that, for purposes of determining child custody, evidence of spousal abuse should create a statutory presumption that it is detrimental to the child to be placed in the custody of the abusive parent. Subtitle F: Immigration Reform for Domestic Violence Victims - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit certain battered alien spouses to apply for permanent residence without filing a joint petition (and interview) with the citizen spouse. Requires such an alien spouse to demonstrate: (1) that the marriage was entered into with good faith; and (2) evidence of physical abuse or extreme mental cruelty. Subtitle G: Long-Term Care Workers Demonstration Projects - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to require the Commissioner on Aging to give special consideration to funding demonstration projects providing older individuals with the opportunity to serve as volunteers furnishing long-term care services to nursing home residents. Subtitle H: Sense of Congress on Caregivers - Declares that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) recognition and further attention should be given to the professional and personal needs of long-term care aides; (2) expanded access to health and pension benefits should be provided to such aides; (3) long-term care policy makers should recognize that problems of female household heads and minority workers affect most nursing care aides; (4) more data is needed on home health and nursing home aides; (5) expanded recruitment of specified groups should be considered to abate the long-term care aide shortage; and (6) changes should be made in nursing aide positions to ensure integration into management structures and to enhance attraction to careers in long-term care.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1989
High Risk Occupational Disease Notification and Prevention Act - Establishes a Risk Assessment Board (the Board), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to: (1) review pertinent medical and scientific reports on the incidence of disease associated with exposure to occupational health hazards; (2) identify and designate populations at risk that should receive notification; (3) develop a form and method of notification that will be used by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary); and (4) determine the appropriate type of medical monitoring or beneficial health counseling. Sets forth factors for Board consideration and priorities in designating populations at risk of disease for notification. Directs the Secretary to make every reasonable effort to ensure that each individual within a population at risk of disease is notified of the risk. Requires the Secretary, through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), to conduct the required notification, with specified exceptions. Allows an employer to apply to NIOSH for an exemption from such employee notification because that employer's employees are not at risk of disease because of significant mitigating factors. Provides for telephone "hot lines" and other dissemination of information. Authorizes the Secretary to certify a private employer or a State or local government to conduct notification. Provides for judicial review of Board determinations. Requires the Secretary to establish and certify ten occupational and environmental health centers to: (1) provide education, training, and technical assistance to personal physicians and health and social service professionals who serve employees notified that they are at risk under this Act; and (2) provide diagnosis, treatment, and medical monitoring and family services for such employees. Directs the Secretary to make grants to conduct research, training, and education aimed at improving the means of identifying employees exposed to occupational health hazards and improving medical assistance to such employees. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and contracts for training and curriculum development in occupational medicine or health to schools of medicine and of nursing. Provides that such assistance shall be for projects: (1) at schools with occupational medicine or health programs, for faculty continuing education, curricula and training materials for undergraduate medical or nursing training, and clinical training for residents in graduate medical programs; and (2) at schools without such programs, for faculty training. Directs the Secretary, during FY 1991 through 1993, to make such grants and contracts to at least ten schools of medicine or nursing. Requires that the medical monitoring recommended by the Board be provided by the current employer: (1) at no additional cost to the employee (above any existing employee health care contribution), if any part of the exposure occurred in the course of employment by that employer; or (2) at a charge to the employee not exceeding the additional cost to the employer (above any existing employer health care contribution), or at no charge, if no part of such exposure occurred in the course of employment by that employer. Sets forth special rules for medical monitoring by small businesses and of seasonal agricultural workers. Prohibits discharging or discriminating against employees, or applicants for employment, on the basis that they are or have been members of a population at risk. Makes an exception to such prohibition if the position which the applicant seeks requires exposure to the occupational health hazard which is the subject to the notice. Allows an employer with 50 or fewer employees to transfer an employee who is or has been a member of a population at risk to another job if earnings, seniority, and other employment rights and benefits are as comparable as possible to the old job and if the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement are not violated. Grants the option of being transferred to a less hazardous or nonexposed job to any employee member of a population at risk who is determined by a physician to show evidence of developing the disease described in the notice or other symptoms or conditions increasing the likelihood or incidence of such disease. Requires that the employee maintain earnings, seniority, and other employment rights and benefits of the former job. Sets forth procedures for independent reconsideration of the initial medical determination. Sets forth special rules for medical removal. Makes such protection inapplicable to seasonal agricultural workers with less than six months continuous employment with an employer. Exempts from the requirement of medical removal protection any employer who has 50 or fewer employees and who has made or is making a reasonable good faith effort to eliminate the occupational health hazard that is the basis for the medical removal decision. Provides for confidentiality of employee records unless disclosure is authorized by and is necessary to carry out a provision of this Act, or is authorized by the employee. Permits employees aggrieved by violations of provisions involving medical monitoring, medical removal, discrimination, and confidentiality to apply, within six months after the violation occurs, to the Secretary of Labor for a review of the alleged violation. Sets forth provisions for investigations, actions, defenses, determinations, and appeals in such cases. Provides for reinstatement and other relief for employees injured by such violations. Sets forth civil penalties for such violations. Authorizes the Secretary (of HHS) to bring an action in U.S. district court to enjoin an employer from violating this Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to report annually to the Congress on the implementation and enforcement of the hazard communication standard. Directs the Secretary of HHS to report annually to the Congress on the implementation and enforcement of notification under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1989
Authorizes the classification of a named individual, the stepmother of a U.S. citizen, as an immediate relative within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1989
Copyright Remedy Clarification Act - Amends Federal copyright law to provide that any State or State instrumentality is liable to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity for: (1) copyright infringement; (2) importation of phonorecord copies without the authority of the copyright owner; and (3) infringement of exclusive rights in mask works. Denies sovereign immunity to any State for such violations and provides the same remedies as are available against other private or public entities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1989
Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform and Miscellaneous Pay Act of 1989 - Amends Federal copyright law to decrease Copyright Royalty Tribunal membership to three commissioners. Places under Level V of the Executive Schedule the compensation rates for: (1) Tribunal commissioners; (2) United States Parole Commissioners; and (3) the Deputy Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, the Assistant Commissioner for Patents, and the Assistant Commissioner for Trademarks.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1989
Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to extend indefinitely, with regard to certain cargo preference provisions, the requirement that the Secretary of Transportation take steps to preserve the percentage share, or metric tonnage of bagged, processed, or fortified commodities experienced in calendar year 1984, of waterborne cargoes exported from Great Lakes ports pursuant to specified provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1989
USHealth Program Act - Division A: USHealth Program - Title I: Eligibility and Enrollment - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish the USHealth Program (Program) for the provision of comprehensive medical care, without regard to age or disability status to: (1) U.S. citizens; (2) permanent U.S. residents; and (3) aliens who are employed with a foreign government or international organization and reside in the United States, provided an executive agreement can be arranged with such government or organization for payments into the Program. Provides for the possibility of incorporating foreign visitors into the program. Repeals title XIX (Medicaid) of the Act and provisions of various other benefit programs rendered superfluous by the comprehensive nature of the USHealth Program. Makes conforming amendments to the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974. Title II: Benefits and Providers - Lists Program benefits which comprise: (1) inpatient hospital and inpatient psychiatric hospital services; (2) medical and other health services; (3) comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facility services; (4) medical care access facility services; (5) extended care services; (6) home health services; (7) hospice care; (8) long-term care for a chronically ill individual; (9) alcohol and drug abuse rehabilitation services; and (10) outpatient mental health services. Amends the Medicare program to expand covered medical and other health services to include: (1) nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist services; (2) periodic screening and diagnosis of individuals under age 21 to ascertain their physical or mental defects and the care necessary to correct or ameliorate discovered defects; (3) family planning services and supplies for individuals of child-bearing age; (4) private duty nursing services; (5) eyeglasses and dental services, with specified conditions; (6) prescribed drugs and prosthetic devices; (7) physical therapy; and (8) other diagnostic, preventive, and rehabilitative services. Directs the USHealth Board (Board) to review coverage limitations on mental health services and to make such changes as will improve access to such services while containing costs. Requires the Board to report to the Congress on whether Program coverage should include services of pediatric and geriatric assessment units. Makes the Program the primary payor where items and services provided may also be covered by a group health plan. Sets forth certification standards for long-term care, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facility services, outpatient physical therapy services, and outpatient speech pathology services. Uses funds authorized for the rural health care transition grant program under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 for the development of medical care access facilities. Defines a "medical care access facility" as a facility which: (1) provides ambulatory, primary, emergency, urgent, and surgical care; (2) provides inpatient care for from one-to-ten inpatient beds for stays not exceeding 48 hours; and (3) is located in a medically underserved area or a county with a population of less than 20,000, or serves a frontier service area. Provides Medicare coverage of facility services. Authorizes such facilities to provide dietician, pharmacist, laboratory technician, medical technologist, and radiological services on a part-time, off-site basis, and remain open for less time than Medicare hospitals. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992 for grants creating medical care access facilities in communities which lack hospitals and assisting hospitals in being converted into such facilites. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Medical rural health clinic demonstration program: (1) testing new payment methodologies for clinic services; (2) covering early detection procedures, health education, and health risk reduction services; (3) easing staffing requirements for clinics that have been unable to recruit physician assistants or nurse practitioners; and (4) reducing physician, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner productivity standards for sparsely populated areas. Requires the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration to provide for and annually report to the Congress on additional research and demonstration projects into how the Medicare and Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) programs could be changed to better cover care for beneficiaries residing in rural areas and in central city areas of large cities. Directs the Board to develop policies and protocols to assure the appropriate coordination in payments and identification of benefits for Medicare long-term care and acute health care services. Title III: Payments for Services - Ties changes in the payment rate for services provided under the Program to changes in the gross national product (GNP) over a payment period, with adjustments in payments among services being made in response to changes in the utilization of such services. Limits payments for noninstitutional care provided to chronically-ill individuals. Sets forth a formula for determining the payment due to hospitals for capital-related costs which takes into account capital resource use associated with differing diagnosis-related groups as well as changes in the GNP. Directs the USHealth Board to establish a payment schedule for each class of covered health care services and periodically adjust such schedules to reflect GNP changes as well as regional and qualitative differences in services provision. Requires that payment rates for physicians' services and other professional services reflect the particular costs of furnishing such services and take into account the full-time coverage and low-volume of services characteristic of rural areas. Authorizes the Board to provide for the payment of services under an alternative reimbursement system established by a State, provided the system does not increase the cost or reduce the quality of such services. Provides funding to States establishing such a system. Cuts a State's required contribution to the Program by 50 percent of the savings which result from use of the State's alternative system. Directs the Board to establish a toll-free, telephone hotline to handle inquiries concerning Medicare payments for certified registered nurse specialist, certified nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, and clinical nurse specialist services. Sets forth medical care access facility payment provisions. Prohibits providers from charging beneficiaries or third parties for services covered by this Act. Requires the Board to use insurance companies as carriers, where practicable, and strengthen utilization review by carriers. Increases the rate of payment for each class of individuals enrolled with a health maintenance organization (HMO) to 100 percent of the cost for that class. (Currently, 95 percent of the costs are covered.) Restricts coverage to HMOs qualified under the Public Health Service Act. Requires HMOs to provide enrollees with all services covered by this Act. Directs the Board to conduct a national campaign encouraging eligible individuals to enroll with HMOs. Title IV: Financing Program - Requires USHealth beneficiaries to pay the first $100 of payments made for covered outpatient drugs and, subject to specified maximum payment limits, 25 percent of the payments provided for custodial long-term care services and 20 percent of the payments provided for other services (in addition to nominal copayments). Waives the coinsurance requirement where such payments would place a family's income below the Federal poverty level. Provides that the failure to pay coinsurance amounts will not result in loss of benefit entitlement. Alters the formula for determining the monthly Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) premium for individuals age 65 or older, requiring the elimination of such premium when the individual's family income falls below the Federal poverty level. Phases-out such premium for elderly beneficiaries by the year 2005. Eliminates such premium for disabled beneficiaries. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to phase-down the supplemental premium rate so that it reaches zero by the year 2005. Indexes increases to the ceiling on such premium to increases in the per capita GNP. Reduces an individual's supplemental premium by the amount of surtax he or she paid for the coverage of excess Program costs. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Act to extend the wages on which the Hospital Insurance tax is levied to an unlimited dollar amount after 1989. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax, to be paid into the USHealth Program Trust Fund (Trust Fund), on wages and self-employment income, including in such tax certain Federal, State, and church employment. Increases the Federal excise tax on cigarettes. Applies the increase to the Trust Fund. Adjusts the rate of such taxes to reflect changes in the GNP. Amends the Medicare program to require the States to pay into the Trust Fund an amount equal to 50 percent of Program payments made to families whose income falls below the Federal poverty level. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a surtax on personal income to cover the amount by which estimated Program costs for a calendar year will exceed Program revenues. Amends the Medicare program to establish the USHealth Program Trust Fund which is to replace the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, Federal Catastrophic Drug Insurance Trust Fund, and Medicare Catastrophic Account and be administered by the Board. Provides for off-budget treatment of receipts and disbursements of the Trust Fund. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the exclusion of employer health insurance contributions from income computations. Title V: Quality Assurance - Amends part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Act to establish a National Council on Quality Assurance. Directs the Director of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment to provide for the appointment of members of the Council. States that the general functions of the Council shall be to: (1) provide oversight of the operations of the quality assurance system; and (2) make recommendations annually to the Board and the Congress for improvements in the system. Sets forth the Council's functions more specifically. Requires the Council to report annually to the Congress on the functioning and progress of the Council. Authorizes appropriations. Requires contracts with peer review organizations to provide that: (1) at least one-half of the organizations' efforts must be on quality assurance activities; and (2) quality assurance activities shall be conducted with respect to all the different types of items and services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or through a private payor. Adds to the definition of the term "peer review organization" so as to require such an entity to: (1) include representatives of quality assurance activities; and (2) have a consumer advisory board. Defines a "consumer advisory board." Requires peer review organizations to review health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Requires any peer review organization to: (1) educate USHealth beneficiaries; (2) provide for a toll-free telephone number, which shall be provided to USHealth beneficiaries for the purpose of receiving questions and complaints from USHealth beneficiaries; (3) assist in resolving any such complaints that are legitimate; (4) make available to its consumer advisory boards appropriate information received from the telephone service; and (5) train members of its consumer advisory board. Appropriates funds, in addition to any other amounts appropriated to carry out part B of title XI, from the Trust Fund for distribution to peer review organizations. Amends the Medicare program to impose quality assurance requirements on home health agencies and long-term care management agencies, including requirements that such agencies implement grievance review procedures, ensure that their providers receive adequate training, and develop and periodically review plans of care for their clients. Requires home health agencies and providers to provide clients with information and training concerning the use of durable medical equipment. Requires long-term care management agencies to supply their clients with a written statement of the services they will receive and a copy of the consumer bill of rights to be promulgated by the Board. Directs the Board to: (1) establish procedures for surveying home health and long-term care management agencies; (2) encourage and report on State progress in developing home health agency licensing policies and procedures; and (3) provide grants for training programs for home health agencies and providers and long-term care management agencies. Authorizes appropriations for such activities in FY 1993 and thereafter. Requires hospitals to implement a discharge planning process which meets guidelines and standards to be established by the Board, in conjunction with the National Council on Quality Assurance, to: (1) protect against inappropriate early hospital discharges; (2) ensure a timely and smooth transition to the most appropriate type of and setting for post-hospital care; and (3) permit early initiation of the authorization process for continuing care services. Amends part B of title XI of the Act to require peer review organizations to monitor hospitals' compliance with discharge planning process requirements. Requires health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to make outpatient mental health services available to their clients and ensure that quality assurance activities include such services. Requires the Board to promulgate a consumers' bill of rights which includes rights: (1) facilitating consumer participation in the planning and delivery of services; (2) requiring consumer notification regarding services, charges for services, and the termination or reduction of services; (3) protecting consumer dignity, privacy, and property; and (4) ensuring service from properly trained and competent individuals. Requires the Board to provide grants to States for the establishment of a health and long-term care ombudsman in each State. Directs each State to establish a statewide uniform reporting system and a toll-free telephone hotline for the collection and communication of complaints regarding conditions in inpatient care facilities. Sets forth study and reporting requirements. Title VI: Administration and Miscellaneous - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Act to replace the heading of part B with the heading, "Part B-USHealth Administration." Establishes as an independent executive agency a USHealth Administration (Administration). Provides that it shall be the duty of the Administration to administer the USHealth Program. Provides that the Administration shall be governed by a USHealth Board. Requires the Board to study and make recommendations as to the most effective methods of providing for the health care of permanent U.S. residents and as to legislation and matters of administrative policy. Establishes in the Administration: (1) a USHealth Administrator; (2) a Deputy USHealth Administrator; (3) a General Counsel; (4) an Inspector General; and (5) an office of the USHealth Ombudsman, to be headed by a USHealth Ombudsman who shall represent the interests of USHealth beneficiaries within the Administration. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a description of the activities of the Ombudsman. Requires the Board to make annual budgetary recommendations relating to the Administration. Requires that appropriations requests by the Administration for staffing and personnel be based upon a comprehensive workforce plan as established by the Board. Provides for the apportionment of administrative costs. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a section reflecting the use of budget authority provided to the Administration. Requires that authority for automated data processing procurement and facilities construction be provided in the form of contract authority covering the total cost of such acquisitions. Makes amounts needed for the liquidation of contract authority so provided available from the Trust Fund to the extent that such amounts are not needed to meet current obligations for benefit payments. Requires the Board to cause a seal of office to be made and judicial notice taken thereof. Directs the Administrator and the Board to report to the Congress within 120 days after the beginning of each regular session on their administration under this Act. Requires the Board and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to implement demonstration projects relating to personnel matters. Directs the Board and the Administrator of General Services to implement such projects relating to delegations from such Administrator. Specifies the authorities which are to be delegated to the Board from the Administrator of General Services and the Director. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees concerning such projects, including an evaluation of the Board's readiness to assume full and permanent authority. Provides for the transfer to the Administration of all functions carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the programs and activities which have been administered by the Health Care Financing Administration. Abolishes the position of Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration in the Department of Health and Human Services. Directs the Secretary to conduct: (1) from five-to-ten three-year demonstration projects to determine the relative effectiveness, cost, and impact on the quality of long-term care of different models of providing and reimbursing Medicare care management services; and (2) from five-to-ten 18-month demonstration projects to assess the coverage of day health care provided to chronically ill individuals in a group-setting outside their homes on a less than 24-hour-a-day basis as long-term care. Sets forth reporting requirements. Sets forth effective date and transitional rule provisions. Title VII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals the Medicaid program. Makes this Act inapplicable to Medicare or Medicaid services furnished before 1994. Division B: Transition and System - Building Provisions - Title I: Medicaid Expansion to Cover the Poor - Amends the Medicaid program to extend Medicaid coverage to all children whose income is below the Federal poverty level and whose resources do not exceed twice the limit for eligibility under title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Phases-in Medicaid coverage, by January 1, 1992, of all individuals whose income and resources do not exceed such limits. Title II: Private Health Insurance Deduction for Self-Employed - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax deduction for the entire health insurance costs of the self-employed. Title III: Rural Health Care Development - Amends the Medicaid program to require that State Medicaid payments for rural medical practices reflect the particular costs of furnishing services in rural areas. Directs the Secretary, jointly with the States, to develop an appropriate system to reduce the payment differential between urban and rural professional health personnel. Permits rural nursing facilities to elect to receive Medicaid payments on the basis of a daily rate schedule to be established by the Secretary. Permits rural home health agencies to elect to receive payments on the basis of a per visit rate to be established by the Secretary. Provides Medicaid coverage of medical care access facility services. Requires such facilities to participate in the program. Amends title VII (Administration) of the Act to place the Office of Rural Health Care in the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants to States which have submitted fiscal year plans for comprehensive State rural health access planning to assist States in such planning. Authorizes appropriations for such grant program through FY 1992. Requires each State to submit a comprehensive rural emergency medical services plan to the Secretary for each fiscal year, beginning with FY 1990. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1992 for payments to States, which vary among States on the basis of the proportion of the nation's rural population which reside in each State, to cover the costs of planning, implementing, and monitoring the operation of trauma care systems in rural areas. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit entities for planning, constructing, equipping, supplying, and operating a rural health clinic and training the personnel at such clinic. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to solo and small group medical practices which provide primary health services to medically underserved rural populations to assist such practices in purchasing equipment and supplies and training personnel. Sets forth grant conditions, including the requirement that such clinics and practices accept as patients Medicare and Medicaid recipients residing in their service area, and provide 24-hour-a-day emergency medical services. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1992. Sets aside five percent of amounts appropriated to the National Center for Health Services Research and Health Care Technology Assessment for research on improving rural health care delivery systems. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study on improvements which can be made in the collection and analysis of data used in designating rural areas as medically underserved areas. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that a State's application for an Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Services Block Grant include an examination of the mental health care needs of rural residents and specify the effort that has and will be made to satisfy such needs. Directs the Secretary to conduct research on improving rural mental health delivery systems. Authorizes appropriations for such research through FY 1992. Title IV: Direct Reimbursement of Nurse Specialists - Amends the Medicaid program to require direct Medicaid reimbursement for certified nurse midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner, and clinical nurse specialist services, whether or not such nurse is under the supervision of, or associated with, another health care provider, if such services would otherwise be covered if furnished by a physician or as an incident to a physician's services. Requires that such payments be equal to payments for such services under the Medicare program and not vary on the basis of the type of nurse involved. Title V: Health Care Personnel Development - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations through FY 1992 under the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program and Loan Repayment Program. Requires the Secretary to establish a program of scholarships and loan repayments to assure an adequate supply of trained health care personnel at medical facilities which serve medically underserved populations. Requires that no less than 40 percent of the persons receiving such assistance be targeted for placement with medically underserved rural populations. Authorizes appropriations for such program through FY 1992. Requires persons receiving Federal financial assistance under the Public Health Service Act to operate health care personnel training programs: (1) take into account the special health care conditions of rural areas; and (2) improve efforts to recruit, as students, individuals who are likely to practice in medically underserved rural areas. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to public or private nonprofit health or educational entities for training programs to increase the number of health care personnel and multi-competent health care technicians serving medically underserved rural populations. Authorizes appropriations for such grant programs through FY 1992. Requires the Secretary, in entering into contracts with schools of medicine and osteopathy for area health education centers, to give priority to health education projects targeted toward health professions having an inadequate number of practitioners, either by specialty or geographic location. Makes administrative changes affecting area health education centers. Authorizes appropriations for such centers through FY 1992. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to and enter into contracts with public and nonprofit private entities to cover the costs of providing continuing education for nurses in rural areas through the use of satellite transmissions. Title VI: Mental Health Care Development - Subtitle A: Amendments to Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to reserve specified amounts of appropriations to the National Institute of Mental Health and to the National Institute on Aging for FY 1990 through 1992, which are in excess of FY 1989 appropriations, for research on the mental health and psycho-social well-being of elderly individuals. Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992 for research, development, and demonstration projects regarding the mental health of elderly individuals. Requires the Secretary to enter into a contract with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences for the conduct of a study to determine methods for measuring and assuring the quality and effectiveness of mental health services and alcohol and drug abuse treatment services. Requires that the Institute complete such study and report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Secretary to provide for and report to the Congress by January 1, 1991, on additional studies: (1) comparing mental health services under prepaid health plans and in settings other than prepaid health plans; (2) examining mechanisms for ensuring the quality of, and access to, mental health services delivered by State, local, and independent mental health facilities; (3) examining minority access to community mental health centers; (4) examining the adequacy and optimal utilization of mental health manpower; and (5) examining the adequacy of minority mental health manpower and training. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct demonstration projects to determine methods of increasing minority access to community mental health centers. Authorizes appropriations for such studies and projects. Subtitle B: Changes in Medicare and Medicaid Programs - Amends the Medicaid program to require Medicaid coverage of outpatient mental health services which would otherwise be covered if furnished by a physician. Amends the Medicaid program to define an institution for mental diseases as an institution that has more than 16 beds and: (1) is under the jurisdiction of the State mental health authority; (2) advertises itself as primarily specializing in treating individuals with mental disease; or (3) is made up, for the most part, of patients who do not have a physical condition which in itself requires the level of services provided in a skilled nursing facility. Amends the Medicare and Medicaid programs to require nursing facilities to provide access to medically necessary mental health services. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Act to impose additional conditions on mental health providers' participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Includes among such conditions the requirements that each provider: (1) comply with the consumer bill of rights; (2) provide each consumer with written grievance procedures and written notice of the services to be provided; (3) have the capacity to identify potential clients, provide mental health services, and coordinate their services with those provided by others; and (4) engage in consumer needs assessment and care and discharge planning activities. Requires health maintenance organizations to ensure access to, and the quality of, the Medicaid outpatient mental health services they provide. Requires peer review organization review of the mental health services for which payment is made under the Medicare or Medicaid program. Directs the Secretary to ensure the reasonableness of Medicare reimbursement for nursing facility mental health services. Title VII: Alzheimer's Assistance Development- Subtitle A: Grants to States for Alzheimers Disease Programs - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make grants to States to plan, establish, and operate programs to provide specified services regarding Alzheimer's or related disorders. Specifies purposes for which grant funds may not be used. Limits grants to three years, subject to annual evaluation by the Secretary. Limits the amount of a grant and its portion of the costs of the program for which it is made. Directs the Secretary to annually evaluate the grant programs. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with private entities to conduct the evaluation. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Subtitle B: Improvement of Services Under Medicare and Medicaid Programs - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the levels of Medicare reimbursement provided for home health services, extended care services, and inpatient hospital services relating to an advanced stage of Alzheimer's or a related disorder and adjust the levels to accurately reflect the reasonable amount required to provide adequately for services furnished. Requires each State plan approved under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to report to the Secretary on how the levels of reimbursement under the plan for home health services, nursing facility services, inpatient hospital services, and community-based care take into account special needs regarding an advanced stage of Alzheimer's or a related disorder. Directs the Secretary to modify contracts with utilization and quality control peer review organizations under part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Social Security Act to ensure that the organizations conduct adequate and representative quality of care reviews on patients who require intensive home health services or extended care services. Requires States, as a condition of approval of a State plan under Medicaid, to provide assurances that the State is providing for the conduct of adequate and representative quality of care reviews on patients who require intensive home health services, nursing facility services, or other long-term care services. Directs the Secretary to review and report to the Congress regarding whether specified types of facilities participating under the Medicare or Medicaid program limit or restrict the services they provide to individuals with Alzheimer's or a related disorder. Title VIII: Community and Migrant Health Centers Expansion - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations through FY 1991 for grants to migrant health centers and community health centers.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1989
Designates the week of October 22 through October 29, 1989, as National Red Ribbon Week. Recognizes and commends the hard work and dedication of certain individuals and organizations and urges activities that support community and alcohol education during such week. Encourages Americans to wear or display red ribbons during such Week to present and symbolize their commitment to a healthy, drug-free lifestyle, and to develop an attitude of intolerance to the use of drugs.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1989
Patents in Space Act - Amends Federal patent law to provide that any invention made, used, or sold in outer space on a space object or component under the jurisdiction or control of the United States shall be considered made, used, or sold within the United States unless: (1) it has been specifically identified and otherwise provided for in an international agreement which the United States has signed; or (2) it is carried on the registry of a foreign state in accordance with the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space. Declares that any invention carried on such registry shall be considered made, used, or sold within the United States if it has been specifically so agreed in an international agreement between the United States and the state of registry. Applies this provision to all patents granted before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act, with certain exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1989
Directs the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its immediate area to honor World War II veterans and to commemorate U.S. participation in that conflict. Directs the Commission to plan, design, construct, and oversee the operation of the memorial. Specifies that such design shall provide for accessibility by, and accommodations for, the physically handicapped. Establishes the World War II Memorial Advisory Board to: (1) promote the establishment of the memorial and encourage the donation of private funds for construction maintenance; (2) assist and cooperate with the Commission in the selection of the site and design for the memorial; and (3) transmit annual reports on its activities to the Congress. Authorizes the Commission to solicit private contributions for such memorial. Establishes a fund in the Treasury which shall be made available to the Commission to carry out this Act. Authorizes Federal funding, in addition to such private funds, for site preparation, design, planning, establishment, construction, maintenance, and operation of the memorial. Authorizes assistance from specified Federal departments and agencies, including the Library of Congress. Authorizes Federal property to be transferred to the Commission. Authorizes the Commission to purchase suitable property within the District of Columbia for the establishment of such memorial. Urges the Government to encourage 50th anniversary commemorations of the U.S. role in World War II. Urges the Smithsonian Institution and other Federal museums to develop commemorative exhibitions to be shared with academic institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1989
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park and adjacent public lands. Requires such EIS to consider: (1) the potential for wolves to leave the recovery area and cause damage to domestic livestock; (2) the wildlife management responsibilities and objectives of the States of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho; and (3) the possibility of reintroducing gray wolves as an experimental population under the Endangered Species Act. Establishes a timetable for the Secretary to select an alternative for such reintroduction and to implement the decision. Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance to Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho for the implementation of wolf conservation and management plans.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1989
International Banking Environmental Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to preclude the U.S. Executive Director of a multilateral development bank from voting in favor of any proposed action which would have a significant environmental impact unless a comprehensive environmental impact assessment has been furnished. Requires that: (1) an environmental impact assessment accompany loan proposals through the agency review process; (2) such banks develop and make available to member governments and borrowers a systematic environmental assessment procedure for development projects; and (3) appropriate U.S. Government personnel be made available to train and assist bank staff in making environmental impact assessments. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report to certain congressional committees on the efficacy of U.S. efforts to encourage consistent and timely environmental impact assessments of proposed multilateral development bank actions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1989
Designates October 29, 1989, as Fire Safety at Home Day: Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery. Directs the President to issue a proclamation to urge people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors when they reset their clocks from daylight savings time.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1989
United Services Organization's 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of five dollar gold coins, one dollar silver coins, and half dollar clad coins to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Services Organization (USO). Requires such coins to be emblematic of USO Services to military service personnel and families. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Terminates the minting of such coins after February 4, 1991. Requires surcharges from the sale of such coins to be deposited in a coinage profit fund and used for USO programs and to reduce the national debt. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress semiannually through December 31, 1992, on activities under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1989
Requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate a safety standard under the Consumer Product Safety Act to require manufacturers of liquid consumer products to include denatonium benzoate in the products if the products present a hazard if ingested by children.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1989
Stratospheric Ozone Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Clean Air Act to list as class I and II substances which are known or may reasonably be anticipated to contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion. Authorizes any person to petition the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to add a chemical to such lists. Requires the Administrator to: (1) add to the class I list any substance having an ozone depletion potential greater than .15; (2) add to the class II list any substance having a significant ozone depletion potential; and (3) assign each listed substance a numerical ozone depletion potential factor, based upon a comparison with chlorofluorocarbon-11. Directs producers and importers of such substances to report annually to the Administrator on the production or import levels of such substances. Makes it unlawful to produce such substances in an amount greater than 1986 levels effective 180 days after enactment of this Act. Requires a further reduction by July 1, 1993, and makes it unlawful, effective July 1, 1996, to produce such substances for other than medical purposes. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate rules under which persons may produce such substances in annual quantities greater than those specified under this Act if such persons obtain the rights to such production from other persons who will be subject to enforceable reductions in such substances which: (1) exceed the reduction otherwise required; (2) are greater than the annual production increase; and (3) would not have occurred in the absence of such transaction. Makes it unlawful to produce any listed substance which yields an ozone depletion potential greater than the 1986 depletion level. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations requiring a 95 percent reduction in ozone depletion potential of such substances by 1997. Provides that if the Administrator fails to promulgate such regulations, it shall be unlawful, effective July 1, 1997, to produce such substances in annual quantities yielding ozone depletion potentials greater than five percent of the 1986 depletion level. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations requiring producers of such substances to reduce production more rapidly if the accelerated schedule is necessary to protect human health and the environment or if the reduction is attainable, based on the availability of substitutes for such substances. Prohibits the importation of such substances or products using such substances, unless the exporting nation has an equivalent or more stringent production reduction program. Requires the Administrator to certify national programs, such certification to be reviewed annually. Equates imports with production when determining a manufacturer's required reductions. Directs the President to prohibit: (1) the export of technologies to produce class I substances; and (2) investment in facilities for producing such substances in nations which are not certified. Requires the Administrator to: (1) review sources containing information on potential chemicals or product substitutes and alternative manufacturing processes as replacements for class I substances; (2) report such findings to the Congress; (3) require producers to provide the EPA with their unpublished health and safety studies on chemical substitutes for such substances and notify the EPA before existing chemicals are put to significant new uses as chlorofluorocarbon and halon substitutes; and (4) annually update such review and, two years after this Act's enactment, include class II substances in such review. Directs the Administrator to promulgate rules applicable to replacements for such substances to require that processes and products that reduce overall risks to public health and the environment are used. Requires the Administrator to publish a list of prohibited substitutes and safe alternatives. Authorizes any person to petition the Administrator to add or remove a substance from such list. Makes it unlawful, after 1992, to manufacture or import any household or commercial appliance containing such substances unless such appliances have apertures that allow the removal of such substances without loss into the atmosphere. Prohibits, after 1990, the introduction of such substances into interstate commerce in pressurized containers weighing less than 15 pounds. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations requiring the maximum feasible reductions in the use of class I substances, including measures to: (1) recover and recycle such substances in manufacturing processes and prior to disposal of products containing such substances; (2) increase the efficiency of the use of such substances; (3) provide for the use of safe alternatives; (4) achieve reductions of at least 50 percent in the use of class I substances for servicing and repairs of household and commercial appliances and in the manufacture of products in which such substances are used as solvents or blowing agents; and (5) achieve reductions, without reduced fire safety, in releases associated with discharges of such substances from fire prevention or extinguishing equipment. Prohibits business establishments from performing services on motor vehicle air conditioners involving refrigerants, unless approved refrigerant recycling equipment is used and persons performing such services have been properly trained and certified. Applies such requirement three years after this Act's enactment to establishments which performed service on fewer than 100 air conditioners during 1990. Requires such establishments to certify to the Administrator that they meet such requirements or serviced fewer than 100 air conditioners during 1990. Requires containers of listed substances to bear labels stating that such substances harm public health and the environment by destroying the ozone layer and disrupting the climate.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1989
Emergency Chinese Adjustment of Status Facilitation Act of 1989 - Waives the two-year home country residence requirement for nationals of the People's Republic of China in the United States on a student (J) visa. Continues the legal status of nonimmigrant nationals of the People's Republic of China in the United States for adjustment or change of status purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1989
Visual Artists Rights Act of 1989 - Amends the copyright law to define a "work of visual art." Grants the author of a work of visual art the right to claim authorship of such work when publicly displayed, independent of other exclusive rights, and to disclaim authorship of such work because of substantial distortion or alteration that harms his or her reputation. Grants such an author the right to prevent any destruction, distortion, mutilation, or other modification of that work which would harm his or her reputation or honor. Grants the author who is not a copyright owner such rights only during his or her lifetime. Extends such rights 50 years beyond the author's death with respect to visual art works created as of the effective date of this Act. Waives artists' rights when a work cannot be removed from a building without distortion, mutilation, or alteration, unless such rights are expressly reserved by an instrument in writing. Directs the Register of Copyrights to establish a recordation system for authors of visual art works that have been incorporated into a building. Declares that this Act preempts equivalent rights under State law. Includes within the scope of copyright infringement violations of the rights conferred by this Act. Declares that: (1) criminal infringement penalties do not apply to such violations; and (2) registration is not a prerequisite to copyright infringement actions for violations of this Act. Stipulates when a claim accrues for purposes of an action for copyright infringement of an author of a work of visual art. Directs the Register of Copyrights to report to the Congress the results of a feasibility study regarding new requirements enabling authors of works of visual art to participate in the commercial exploitation of their work after its first sale. Requires submission of such report within 18 months after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1989
Foreign Communications Free Trade Act of 1989 - Amends the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to eliminate certain requirements with respect to the filing of statements with the Attorney General before disseminating political propaganda. Replaces current requirements for an identifying statement on any political propaganda with the requirement that any communication or prints that originate outside the United States include a conspicuous statement of the country of origin. Authorizes the Attorney General to define by rule what constitutes a conspicuous statement.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1989
Air Toxics Control Act of 1989 - Amends the Clean Air Act to establish a list of hazardous air pollutants. Permits any person to petition the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for additions to or deletions from such list. Requires the presentation of adequate data concerning health or environmental effects for such additions or deletions. Prohibits air pollutants for which national air quality standards have been established, with specified exceptions, from being added to such list. Directs the Administrator to review and revise such list at least every five years. Requires the Administrator to list and establish emissions standards for categories of major emitting facilities. Establishes a timetable for the promulgation of such standards, requiring standards for all categories within eight years of this Act's enactment. Directs the Administrator to review and, if necessary, revise such standards at least every five years. Requires the Administrator, within four years of promulgating standards for a category, to evaluate risks to human health and the environment remaining after application of such standards. Provides for revisions of such standards for carcinogens or other pollutants not meeting emissions thresholds. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate design, equipment, work practice, and operation standards for major emitting facilities under this Act. Directs the Administrator to promulgate such standards when it is infeasible to establish a numerical emission limitation standard for any category. Requires such standards to: (1) achieve reductions comparable to numerical emission limitations under this Act; (2) include leak prevention, detection, and correction requirements unless the Administrator finds such requirements infeasible or unnecessary; (3) require owners or operators of major emitting facilities to carry out annual safety inspections to locate leaks and unpermitted releases and to report the results of such inspections to the permitting authority; and (4) include procedures for monitoring or measuring emissions and for demonstrating compliance with such requirements. Authorizes the Administrator to establish a de minimis level for emissions from categories of facilities under this Act, provided that such level does not exceed 10 tons annually for any single hazardous air pollutant or 25 tons annually for a combination of such pollutants. Makes it unlawful to construct or modify a major emitting facility or to emit any pollutant subject to this Act's standards, except in compliance with a permit. Outlines the requirements of the permit program. Limits permits to five-year periods. Requires inspections of facilities for permit issuances or renewals. Authorizes the issuance of a temporary permit if a facility owner or operator certifies that the facility is in compliance with applicable standards. Requires the permitting authority to review and inspect such facility to determine whether a full permit should be issued. Requires compliance with standards by existing facilities within three years of the promulgation or revision of such standards. Exempts facilities from standards for carcinogens or nonthreshold air pollutants if a permit contains alternative emission limitations which will prevent adverse health or environmental effects. Grants extensions for permit compliance to existing facilities under specified conditions. Authorizes the President to exempt any facility from any standards for up to two years if the technology to implement such standards is unavailable and the operation of the facility is required for national security reasons. Authorizes additional two-year extensions of such exemptions. Requires the President to report to the Congress with respect to each exemption or extension. Allows exemptions from emission standards for facilities which achieved reductions of at least 95 percent from uncontrolled emissions of a hazardous air pollutant prior to proposal of the standard. Directs the Administrator to conduct an urban pollution research program to include: (1) ambient monitoring for a broad range of hazardous air pollutants in a representative number of urban locations; (2) analysis to characterize the area sources of such pollution and the health risks posed by such pollutants; and (3) consideration of factors which elevate such health risks. Requires State air pollution agencies which receive Federal grants and have responsibility for metropolitan areas with populations over 250,000 to establish monitoring programs to measure the concentrations of hazardous air pollutants. Directs the Administrator to list and promulgate emissions standards for categories of area sources of hazardous air pollutants. Establishes a timetable for the promulgation of such standards, requiring standards for all categories within eight years of this Act's enactment. Requires the Administrator to review and, if necessary, revise such standards at least every five years. Authorizes States to submit to the Administrator for approval programs for the implementation and enforcement of permits or standards concerning areas sources. Permits the transfer of the Administrator's enforcement authorities to a State. Requires the Administrator to publish guidance for use in program development. Sets forth provisions regarding approval of such programs. Requires the Administrator to review State programs at least every two years and to withdraw approval of any program if determined that a State is not administering or enforcing such program. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States for program development. Requires the Administrator to: (1) investigate the sources of atmospheric deposition of hazardous air pollutants on the Great Lakes and tributary waters and evaluate the adverse human health and environmental effects of such deposition; (2) report the results of such investigation to the Congress; and (3) promulgate further emissions standards or control measures necessary to prevent the effects of such deposition. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on the implementation of certain requirements under this Act and to maintain a database on pollutants and sources subject to provisions of this Act. Requires such report to identify specific metropolitan areas which experience high risks to human health as the result of hazardous air pollutant emissions and the sources of such emissions. Makes available to the public any information submitted to a permitting authority. Directs the Administrator to establish and maintain an air toxics clearinghouse, control technology center, and risk information center to provide technical assistance and information to States, local agencies, and the public on emissions reduction. Requires the Administrator to review and, if necessary, revise risk evaluation guidelines at least every five years. Require such evaluations to evaluate direct and indirect exposure pathways. Directs the Administrator to establish standards and procedures for the certification of persons preparing such evaluations. Requires the Administrator to publish a list of air pollutants which: (1) are emitted by motor vehicles into the ambient air or into the interior of a motor vehicle; and (2) cause or contribute to air pollution which may result in serious adverse effects to human health or the environment. Sets forth the same petitioning, review, revision, and risk evaluation procedures as those applicable to major emitting facilities. Establishes diesel particulates emissions standards for: (1) passenger vehicles and light trucks manufactured after 1991; and (2) heavy trucks and buses manufactured after 1990. Makes it unlawful, on the later of one year after this Act's enactment or January 1, 1991, to sell or introduce into commerce any leaded gasoline for use as a motor vehicle fuel. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the reduction of particulates from existing diesel buses. Permits requirements for municipal transit buses to be more stringent than those applicable to other buses. Directs the Administrator to list at least 100 substances which, as the result of an accidental release, may cause adverse human health or environmental effects. Treats liquids and gases identified by the Secretary of Transportation as toxic by inhalation as listed under this section if the Administrator fails to list 100 substances by the required deadline. Requires the Administrator to review substances which are not on such list but are listed under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, this Act, and the list identified by the Secretary for possible additions to the list. Provides for petitioning and modification of such list, as appropriate. Requires the Administrator to update such list at least every five years. Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish de minimis quantities of listed substances; and (2) promulgate regulations to provide for prevention and detection of accidental releases of such substances from covered facilities and for response to such releases by owners or operators of such facilities. Requires such regulations to include monitoring, inspection, recordkeeping, storage, design, equipment, work practice, and operational requirements. Directs owners or operators of such facilities to implement risk management plans to detect and prevent or minimize accidental releases. Requires such plans to include hazard assessments, prevention programs, and response measures. Directs the Administrator to promulgate guidelines to assist in the preparation of such plans. Sets forth compliance and enforcement provisions. Requires the President to establish within the EPA an independent Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board to: (1) investigate and report on accidental chemical releases; (2) propose corrective safety steps for chemical facilities; and (3) promulgate requirements for the reporting of such releases. Authorizes the Board to hold hearings, secure written reports from persons handling chemicals, obtain autopsy reports, and conduct inspections of any facility where an accidental release has occurred. Makes information obtained by the Board, with the exception of information concerning trade secrets, available to the public. Directs the Administrator to set forth reasons for any refusal to implement a recommendation of the Board. Requires the Board to report annually to the Congress on recommendations submitted to the Administrator regarding accidental releases. Authorizes appropriations. Repeals certain provisions of the Clean Air Act concerning the revision of stationary source regulations. Increases penalties for specified violations of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1989
Hazardous Materials Transportation Act Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (the Act) to require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring any generator of a shipment of hazardous materials to transmit a manifest of its contents and the license plate or other identifying number of the carrier to the central reporting system and data center. Requires the Secretary to enter into a contract under which a private entity shall establish a central reporting system and data center to provide law enforcement and firefighting personnel with information and advice on dealing with emergencies connected with the transportation of hazardous materials (currently the Secretary is required to establish and maintain such a system and data center). Prohibits the appropriation of Federal funds for such system and data center. Permits the private entity to impose a fee for manifesting such a shipment if the generator is a Federal agency. Directs the Secretary to study the flow of hazardous materials in the United States. Requires the Secretary, in collaboration with the private entity, to report the results of such study to the Congress. Increases both civil and criminal penalties for violations under the Act. Sets forth specified terms and conditions with respect to the private entity's establishment and maintenance of the reporting system and data center.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1989
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement for the transfer of specified monkeys used in research at the Institute for Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, to Primarily Primates, Inc., an animal sanctuary in San Antonio, Texas, the teaching zoo known as Moorpark College in Moorpark, California, or the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1989
States that the right of a U.S. citizen to vote in a Federal election shall not be denied or abridged because he has committed a criminal offense (unless such citizen is imprisoned in a correctional institution at the time of such election). Provides criminal penalties for intentionally denying a person such right.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1989
White House Conference on Homelessness Act - Directs the President to call a National White House Conference on Homelessness. Provides for State and regional conferences. Requires a report to the President and to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1989
Designates June 21, 1989, as Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner Day. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has helped to fulfill the promise of democracy in this Nation. Reaffirms the goal of removing remaining barriers to full voter participation in this Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1989
Great Lakes Maritime Trade Act of 1989 - Title I: Eligibility of Certain Reflagged Vessels in the Great Lakes to Carry Preference Cargoes - Exempts an American Great Lakes vessel (AGLV) from provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 which prohibit a vessel which is built or rebuilt outside the United States or documented under any foreign registry from being, for purposes of cargo preference provisions, a privately owned U.S.-flag vessel. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to designate a vessel to be an AGLV if it meets certain requirements regarding U.S. documentation and if the owner enters into a construction and purchase agreement specifying that: (1) all repair, maintenance, reconditioning, and other construction (except emergency repairs) shall be performed in the United States; and (2) if the designation is revoked or terminated under provisions of this Act, the United States shall have an exclusive right to purchase the vessel under specified price terms. Declares that, notwithstanding any law, if the United States does not purchase the vessel, the owner shall not be prohibited from transferring the vessel to a foreign registry or selling it to a non-U.S. citizen. Prohibits an AGLV, except during the Great Lakes shipping off-season, from engaging in trade: (1) from a non-Great Lakes U.S. port; (2) between U.S. ports; or (3) between Great Lakes U.S. ports and Great Lakes Canadian ports. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to revoke the designation of a vessel as an AGLV on determining that the vessel does not meet a requirement for the designation, it has been operated in violation of this title, or the owner has violated a construction and purchase agreement under this title. Terminates an AGLV designation three years after the date of the designation or on an earlier date as may be requested by the vessel owner. Title II: Great Lakes Maritime Passage Enhancements - Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to extend indefinitely, with regard to certain cargo preference provisions, the requirement that the Secretary of Transportation take steps to preserve the percentage share, or metric tonnage of bagged, processed, or fortified commodities experienced in calendar year 1984, of waterborne cargoes exported from Great Lakes ports pursuant to specified provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. Directs the Secretary of the Army, notwithstanding specified requirements of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, to initiate and complete the design, planning, and engineering of the Sault Sainte Marie lock project. Extends the authorization of such project to the end of FY 1993. Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) initiate discussions with Canada to eliminate all tolls on the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway; and (2) report to the Congress, by January 1, 1990, regarding those efforts, any results, and recommendations for further action. Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that: (1) funding for icebreaking capability in the Great Lakes should be maintained at a level sufficient to ensure passage under any conditions which may reasonably be expected to occur during the Great Lakes shipping season; and (2) it is essential to maintain in the Great Lakes an icebreaking vessel with horsepower and beam equivalent to those of the Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1989
Older Americans' Freedom to Work Act of 1989 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Act - Sets forth U.S. policy concerning chemical and biological weapons. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as may be required to control the export of materials, equipment, and technology having significance for the manufacture or use of chemical and biological weapons. Makes subject to the penalties imposed by the Export Administration Act of 1979 any person who violates any regulation, license, or order issued by the Secretary. Requires the Secretary of State to assess the risk of the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons. Specifies particular matters to be considered by such assessment and requires such assessment to give particular attention to the materials, equipment, and technology that have direct significance for the production and use of chemical and biological weapons. Requires the Secretary of State to submit to the Congress a biannual report describing the status of: (1) control of the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons; (2) efforts to prevent the spread of such weapons; and (3) programs to control the export of materials, equipment, and technology having direct significance for the production of chemical and biological weapons. Requires the Secretary of State to establish a Chemical Industry Advisory Group to provide advice to the Secretary concerning such assessment and such biannual report. Requires the Secretary of State to inform the appropriate committees of the Congress of developments of significance to the proliferation and control of chemical and biological weapons.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
International Plutonium Control Act - Urges the President to seek negotiations with the Soviet Union on a verifiable agreement to end the production by both countries of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for weapons purposes. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States and the Soviet Union should: (1) establish verification arrangements to monitor the cessation of activities under this Act, including mutual inspections of production reactors, chemical separation and uranium enrichment facilities, and isotope separation plants; (2) furnish the equipment and personnel to implement safeguards at civilian nuclear facilities and consider transferring the safeguards mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency; and (3) consider increasing their respective contributions to the Agency to fund the assignment of fully trained inspectors to each country to assume additional safeguards responsibilities at civilian nuclear facilities. Urges the President to seek agreement with the Soviet Union that the United States and the Soviet Union will: (1) exchange information on the location, mission, and maximum annual capacity of their facilities essential to the production of tritium for stockpile replenishment; and (2) provide to each other a complete inventory of facilities dedicated to the production of plutonium and uranium for weapons purposes. Prohibits funds from being obligated or expended by the United States to operate facilities dedicated to the production of plutonium for weapons purposes unless the President certifies to the Congress that: (1) the Soviet Union has refused to enter in good faith into the negotiations; (2) the United States is unable to determine that Soviet facilities producing plutonium have ceased operation; or (3) the Soviet Union is continuing to obtain plutonium by operating civilian chemical separation plants that are not under bilateral U.S.-Soviet safeguards.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Food Irradiation Safety and Labeling Requirement Act of 1989 - Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from implementing pork irradiation regulations and the Secretary of Health and Human Services from implementing other food irradiation regulations. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to arrange for and report within two years on a study of the risks to human health and the environment presented by food irradiation. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require that food for domestic use or export which has been irradiated be labeled in a prescribed fashion. Requires restaurant menus to indicate when foods have been irradiated. Requires persons irradiating food to report semiannually to the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow farmers' cooperatives to elect to treat as ordinary income or loss certain capital gains and losses from the disposition of assets used in conducting business with or for patrons.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Amends the Small Business Act regarding small business participation in Federal procurement activities to require any procuring agency to provide a copy of the proposed procurement to the Small Business Administration (SBA) accompanied by an explanatory statement if it believes that small business participation is unlikely due to the nature of the project. Directs the SBA to provide the procuring agency with recommendations if the SBA believes alternatives exist which would increase small business prime contracting opportunities.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989 - Title I: General Prohibition Against Discrimination - Declares that it shall be discriminatory, on the basis of disability, to deny opportunities or to afford them unequally, to provide opportunities less effectively (or differently or separately, unless necessary for effectiveness), to assist an organization or individual that discriminates, or to otherwise limit opportunities enjoyed by others. Prohibits the use of standards, criteria, or administrative methods that have the purpose or effect of discrimination or perpetuate discrimination. Declares it discriminatory to deny equal opportunities because of the relationship or association of an individual with another individual with a disability. Allows as a defense to a charge of discrimination that an application of standards or criteria has been demonstrated to be both necessary and substantially related to the ability of an individual to take advantage of the essential components of the opportunity, and that the taking advantage cannot be accomplished by reasonable accommodations, modifications, or the provision of auxiliary aids or services. Title II: Employment - Prohibits discrimination by any employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee against any qualified individual with a disability in job application procedures, hiring or discharge, compensation, advancement, training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Makes the remedies set forth in specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other specified Federal law available to any individual who believes that he or she is being or is about to be subjected to discrimination in violation of this Act. Title III: Public Services - Declares that no qualified individual with a disability shall be excluded from the participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination by a State, or by an agency, political subdivision, or other instrumentality of a State. Lists types of actions deemed, for purposes of this Act and specified provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to be discrimination with regard to public transportation. Makes the remedies and rights set forth in specified provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 available to any individual who believes that he or she is being or is about to be subjected to discrimination in violation of this Act. Title IV: Public Accommodations and Services Operated by Private Entities - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the enjoyment of any place of public accommodation. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public transportation services provided by a private entity that is primarily engaged in transporting people, but that is not in the principal business of air transportation. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Makes specified provisions of the Fair Housing Act relating to enforcement available, subject to exception, to any aggrieved individual. Title V: Telecommunications Relay Services - Defines "telecommunications relay services" to mean services that enable simultaneous communication between individuals who use telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs) or other nonvoice terminal devices and individuals who do not use such devices. Declares it discriminatory for any common carrier that offers telephone services to the public to fail to provide interstate or intrastate telecommunication relay services that are equal to those provided to their customers who are able to use voice services, except in any State in which services are provided through an entity designated by the State. Declares it discrimination by a State that makes such a designation if the State fails to provide interstate or intrastate relay services that are equal to those provided to their voice customers. Makes specified provisions of the Fair Housing Act relating to enforcement available, subject to exception, to any aggrieved individual. Requires the Federal Communications Commission to enforce this title. Makes specified provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 apply with respect to the enforcement of this title. Provides for cease and desist orders by the Commission and for monetary penalties. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Prohibits retaliatory discrimination against any individual because of actions related to this Act. Declares that a State shall not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution from an action in Federal court for a violation of this Act. Requires the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board to issue minimum guidelines to supplement the existing Minimum Guidelines and Requirements for Accessible Design. Allows the awarding of reasonable attorney's fees, in certain circumstances, in any action or proceeding under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1989
Rural Health Improvement Act of 1989 - Title I: Medicare Program Changes - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to update Medicare payments for inpatient hospital services for FY 1990 by the percentage recommended by the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission with respect to all hospitals located in the respective type of area and by the market basket percentage increase for hospitals in all areas thereafter. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report recommendations to the Congress, within one year of this Act's enactment: (1) for adjusting Medicare payments for inpatient hospital services so that they reflect differences in the severity of illnesses that are classified within the same diagnosis-related group; (2) to modify hospital area wage factors to reflect, in the case of rural hospitals, wages for professional personnel on a regional, rather than strictly rural, basis and take into account the differential impact of contract labor costs and non-contract labor costs on rural hospitals; and (3) to recalculate standardized Medicare payments for inpatient hospital services using the most current information on hospital costs. Requires the Secretary to annually update area wage factors used in determining what portion of a hospital's costs are attributable to wages. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress, within six months of this Act's enactment, on alternative Medicare reimbursement systems for small rural hospitals. Requires the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission to submit a written review of the preceding reports to the Congress within 60 days of their transmittal to the Congress. Provides additional payments to Medicare-dependent, small rural hospitals up to FY 1992 (when the transition to a single average standardized Medicare payment rate is required to begin), ensuring the coverage of such hospitals' reasonable operating costs for Medicare inpatient hospital services. Requires the recomputation of Medicare sole community hospital payment rates using the most recent information on hospital-specific costs per case and, if greater, national rather than regional prospective payment rates. Includes, in the Secretary's determination as to whether a hospital is a sole community hospital, consideration of the travel time to the nearest alternative source of inpatient care and the number of patients who seek health services which are unavailable in the hospital's area. Establishes the Medicare Geographical Classification Review Board to decide on a rural hospital's application for classification as an urban hospital for Medicare payment purposes. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to require that the Secretary give special attention to grants for demonstration projects establishing new cooperative models for rural health care delivery as part of the grant program assisting small rural hospitals and their communities to adjust to changes in the need for their services. Extends the regional referral center classification of hospitals so classified as of September 30, 1989, and the payment rates applicable to such hospitals under the Medicare program, through FY 1991. Amends title VII (Administration) of the Act to place the Office of Rural Health Care in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. Requires the Director of the Office of Rural Health Care to establish a program to set policy and make grants with respect to agricultural health and safety. Requires such Director and the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration to establish a liaison to coordinate policies concerning rural health under the Social Security Act and under the Public Health Service Act. Title II: Public Health Service Act Programs - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to give special emphasis to the health manpower needs of rural areas when assigning National Health Service Corps members to health manpower shortage areas. Requires the Secretary to set aside at least 50 percent of the amounts appropriated for National Health Service Corps scholarship and loan repayment programs for individuals attending nurse practitioner education programs and agreeing to serve in a nurse practitioner health manpower shortage area. Deems the shortage of nurse practitioners to be a sufficient criterion for designating an area, facility, or population group as a health manpower shortage area. Directs the Secretary to establish an agricultural health and safety education and training program. Requires the Secretary to study and report to the Congress, within six months of this Act's enactment, on a model State law providing health insurance to individuals who lack adequate health insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to issue an order (subject to producer referendum) creating a soybean promotion, research, and consumer education program. Requires any such order to provide for the establishment of a: (1) United Soybean Board; and (2) Soybean Program Coordinating Committee. Funds such program through producer assessments. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kastenmeier, Robert W. [D-WI-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000020_200.jpg)