United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1977
Amends rule XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit the House from receiving or considering any bill or resolution unless its title accurately reflects its contents including the specific amount of each authorization or appropriation contained therein.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1977
Amends Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend coverage to include expenses incurred in providing a Papanicolaou test for the diagnosis of uterine cancer, if the individual receiving the test has not had such a test on a routine basis during the preceding six months.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1977
Constitutional Amendment - Requires Congress to assure that the total outlays of the Government, during any fiscal year, do not exceed the total receipts of the Government during such fiscal year. States that by the fourth fiscal year after the ratification of this amendment the budget shall be balanced. Permits expenditures to exceed national revenues in time of declared emergency, but states that such expenditures shall never exceed receipts by more than ten percent. Provides that during the fifth fiscal year beginning after the ratification of this amendment and for the next 19 succeeding fiscal years thereafter, the total receipts of the Government shall exceed outlays by an amount equal to five percent of the Federal indebtedness at the beginning of the fifth year fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1977
Calls for the consideration of the relationship between the violence depicted on television and violence in society by those persons responsible for television programming and broadcasting in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1977
Public Safety Officers' Group Life Insurance Act - Authorizes the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration to purchase from life insurance companies a policy or policies of group life insurance to provide the benefits provided under this Act. Provides that each such life insurance company must: (1) be licensed to issue life insurance in each of the 50 states of the United States and in the District of Columbia; and (2) as of the most recent December 31 for which information is available to the administration have in effect at least one percent of the total amount of group life insurance which all life insurance companies have in effect in the United States. Provides that any purchased policy shall automatically insure any Public Safety Officer employed by a State or local government which has applied to participate in the insurance program and agreed to deduct from such officer's pay the amount of the premium, to be forwarded to the proper Federal agency as designated by the Administration. Specifies the amount of life insurance an officer may receive on the basis of his pay rate. Requires that policies purchased under this Act provide officers accidental death and dismemberment insurance in an amount equal to the applicable amount of life insurance. Provides that each policy purchased by the Administration under this Act shall contain a provision, in terms approved by the Administration, to the effect that any insurance thereunder on any public safety officer shall cease two months after; (1) his separation or release from duty as such an officer; or (2) discontinuance of his pay as such an officer, whichever is earlier. Provides that each policy purchased under this Act shall contain a provision, in terms approved by the Administration, for the conversion of such insurance effective the day following the date such insurance would cease. Specifies that during the period such insurance is in force the insured, upon request to the Administration, shall be furnished a list of life insurance companies participating in the program established under this Act, and upon written application (within such period), to the participating company selected by the insured and payment of the required premiums be granted insurance without a medical examination on a permanent plan then currently written by such company which does not provide for the payment of any sum less than the face value thereof, or for the payment of an additional amount of premiums if the insured engages in public safety activities. Requires that during any period in which a public safety officer is insured under a policy of insurance purchased by the Administration under this Act his employer shall withhold each pay period from his basic or other pay until separation or release from duty as a public safety officer an amount determined by the Administration to be such officer's share of the cost of his group life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance. Sets forth the order of precedence in which the survivors of the officers will be awarded insurance benefits. States that each policy issued under this title shall include a schedule of basic premium rates and provide for the readjustment of rates. Establishes an Advisory Council on Public Safety Officer Group Life Insurance consisting of the Attorney General as Chairman, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Provides that the Council shall meet once a year, or more often at the call of the Attorney General, and shall review the Administration of this Act and advise the Administration on matters of policy relating to activities thereunder.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1977
Public Disclosure of Lobbying Act - Requires organizations which expend more than $1,250 per quarter year or which employ at least one or more individuals who spend a specified amount of time engaged in lobbying activities to register with the Comptroller General and to update such registration annually. Requires the identification of any persons retained for lobbying purposes and the source and amounts of income of such organization as a part of such registration. Requires such organization to file quarterly reports concerning such lobbying activities including: (1) listing of total lobbying expenditures including each expenditure over $35 made to or for the benefit of any Federal officer, congressional employee, or Member of Congress; (2) expenditures made for dinners or receptions; and (3) the issue for which lobbying was carried out identified by bill number or agency involved. Requires the Comptroller General to make copies of each registration and report required by this Act available for public inspection and copying. Requires the Comptroller General to render written advisory opinions upon request of any individual or organization with respect to the requirements of this Act. States that anyone who acts in good faith reliance upon such advisory opinion shall be presumed to be in compliance with this Act. Requires the Comptroller General to enforce this Act using informal methods of conference or conciliation or, if necessary, by referring apparent violations to the Attorney General. Sets forth civil and criminal sanctions for violation of this Act. Repeals the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1977
Gives Congressional endorsement to the efforts of the United States Delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea to achieve a multilateral treaty which articulates the principle that deep seabed resources are the common heritage of all people and should be utilized with a view to distributing revenues to all countries. Endorses particularly the establishment of an International Seabed Authority to regulate such a system.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1977
Declares it the sense of the House of Representatives: (1) that the Soviet Union permit free emigration of Soviet Jews and others, (2) that the Soviet Union permit the free exercise of religious beliefs and cultural expression, and (3) that the Congress supports "Solidarity Sunday."
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1977
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense shall at the earliest opportunity inter an Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery and make permanent display of representative medals, ribbons, and tributes of the Vietnam War in the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1977
Wildlife on Federal Lands Trapping Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue such regulations, relating to trapping, as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Prohibits the Secretary from approving any type of trap unless such trap utilizes the most humane capture method available for the species concerned, and minimizes the probability of capturing species for which such trap was not intended. Directs the Secretary to undertake a research program to develop such types of traps. Establishes an advisory commission to make recommendations to the Secretary with respect to traps designed or intended for use. Prohibits the Secretary from permitting trapping on Federal lands where such trapping may reduce any species below specified levels. Sets forth a procedure for the application and issuance of trapping permits. Requires the attachment of a shipping certificate to any package containing the fur, hide, skin, horn, or feathers of any mammal or bird captured by any trap within any State or the District of Columbia if such package is transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Establishes criminal penalties for: (1) engaging in trapping without a permit issued pursuant to this Act; (2) violating any condition of such permit; (3) violating any regulation of the Secretary relating to trapping; (4) selling or transporting in interstate commerce an unapproved trap; or (5) falsifying the shipping certificate. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with States with respect to the imposition of trapping regulations consistent with those prescribed under this Act. Authorizes such appropriations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1977
Small Business Development Center Act - Authorizes the Small Business Administration to make grants to universities to assist them in developing centers to provide small businesses with a broad range of advice, information, and assistance. Limits the amount of such grant to no more than 75 percent of the cost of eligible activities in the operation or development of the center, except for grants to regional centers assisting State centers in research or other high cost activities. Establishes a Small Business Management and Technical Assistance Division within the Small Business Development Center program through a Deputy Associate Administrator. Establishes a Small Business Development Center Advisory Board composed of 14 members to advise and confer with the Deputy Associate Administrator for Management and Technical Assistance. Authorizes the Administration to make grants to universities, organizations, and business concerns to support research to solve problems which affect small business concerns.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1977
Revises the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act to require retail distributors selling packaged consumer commodities to mark the total selling price on the package of the commodity.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1977
Allows any Federal employee or Member of Congress who is a Japanese-American World War II internee to credit, for civil service retirement purposes, the period during which such individual was detained or interned in a camp or similar facility.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1977
Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 to extend the period during which Federal emergency operating assistance is available for rail passenger service under such Act. Increases the Federal share for the provision of such service during specified time periods. Authorizes appropriations in such amounts as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years following fiscal year 1978 to liquidate obligations incurred by the Secretary of Transportation in financing such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1977
Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate a specified segment of the Delaware River as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1977
Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, to make Federal ship mortgage insurance available for obligations for fishing vessels which do not exceed 87 1/2 percent of the actual or depreciated cost of such vessels.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1977
Directs that hearings be commenced as soon as possible by the Committee with appropriate jurisdiction to consider and determine the Nation's future telecommunications policy.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt nonprofit volunteer firefighting or rescue organizations from the excise tax on sales of special fuels, automotive parts, petroleum products, and communication services.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1977
Congressional Campaign Financing Act - Entitles to campaign payments congressional candidates who agree to certain reporting and recordkeeping procedures and certify that (1) they and their authorized committees will not incur campaign expenses in excess of certain limitations and (2) they have received contributions in excess of a certain sum and no person has given more than $100 toward the amount so certified. Sets the amount of payments to an eligible candidate at the amount of contributions received up to a specified maximum. Stipulates that sums given by any one contributor totalling over $100 shall be disregarded for purposes of matching grants. Restricts use of funds forwarded under this Act to defraying campaign expenses either directly or through repayment of campaign loans. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to specify spending limits for candidates receiving payments under this Act. Waives such limits for sums in excess of the limit imposed for candidates receiving payments. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a separate Congressional Election Payment Account in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and to deposit certain sums in such account in accordance with specified guidelines. Requires repayment of excess payments and unexpended payments. Penalizes use of funds for other than campaign purposes. Authorizes the Federal Election Commission to institute repayment actions in district courts. Specifies the administrative authority of the Commission in carrying out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1977
Sludge Management Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to study the environmental, health, and economic effects of subsurface landfilling sludge on soils and ground water, and alternate methods of sludge disposal. Directs the Administrator to develop guidelines for sludge disposal and land-spreading in order to protect the public health and welfare. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States and localities of up to 40 percent of the cost of removal of sludge from navigable waters of the United States or any adjacent shoreline. Directs the Administrator to establish an Environmental Protection Agency Task Force on sludge removal. Authorizes the establishment of programs of training, demonstration, and surveys relating to the restoration of water quality where degraded by sludge. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prohibit grants for treatment works, after September 30, 1976, unless the applicant demonstrates that adequate confined disposal methods will be provided.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1977
Establishes, in the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, the Lowell National Cultural Park consisting of a preservation zone and an intensive use zone. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish the boundaries of such zones. Permits the Secretary to either enter into cooperative agreements with property owners to preserve and maintain property within the park or to acquire such property within the intensive use zone by purchase or condemnation if the parties have failed to reach an agreement through negotiation. Permits the Secretary to enter into agreements with Federal agencies or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for firefighting, law enforcement or other specified assistance. Directs the Secretary to submit to Congress a park management plan and to establish standards applicable to the construction and use of properties within the intensive use zone. Requires any Federal agency conducting activities affecting the park to conform to such standards. Establishes the Lowell National Cultural Park Advisory Commission to advise the Secretary on the boundaries of the park and the development and use of properties and activities within the park.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1977
Universal Voter Registration Act - Establishes the positions of Administrator and Assistant Administrator of Voter Registration within the Federal Election Commission. Specifies the duties of the Administrator, including (1) establishing and administering a voter registration program in accordance with this Act; (2) providing for the collection, analysis, and publication of voter registration information in coordination work the Secretary of Commerce; and (3) providing information and technical assistance to State and local officials concerning voter registration. Requires each State and local government to permit any individual who is eligible under applicable State and Federal law to register to vote in any Federal election to register on the date of a Federal election at the appropriate polling place. States that any individual so registering shall, if required by State or local authorities, establish his identity by (1) executing an affidavit containing certain information and (2) submitting either an affidavit executed by a person who is registered to vote at the polling place involved and is present at such polling place with the individual seeking registration or one of any forms of identification approved by the Commission. Directs the Commission to make grants for approved voter registration outreach programs to States which comply with the election day registration requirements of this Act. Conditions the amount of such grants on whether a State has a similar election day registration program in effect with respect to State and local elections. Stipulates that a registration outreach program may include projects relating to registration by mail, registration through the use of mobile units, or bilingual registration, and those projects otherwise designed to improve voter registration methods and procedures. List the purposes for which grant funds may be used. Sets forth criminal penalties for any person who knowingly and willfully (1) register, or attempts to register, to vote under this Act for the purpose of voting more than once in any Federal election; (2) conspires with any person for the purpose of enabling such person to make false registration to vote in a Federal election under this Act or for the purpose of enabling or encouraging any individual to make such false registration to vote in a Federal election; or (3) falsifies any information with respect to the name, residence, or age of such person, or any other information for the purpose of establishing eligibility to register to vote in a Federal election under this Act. Directs the Commission to institute actions to prevent any violation for this Act. Requires Federal courts to expedite consideration of actions involving a violation of, or a constitutional challenge to, any provision of this Act. Prohibits commercial use of any list compiled by a State or local government of individuals registered to vote in a Federal election.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1977
Natural Game Fish Stream Preservation Act - Amends the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to establish a program whereby any State agency responsible for the management of game fish may apply to the Secretary of the Interior for Federal assistance with respect to the preservation of natural game fish streams within such State. Authorizes the Secretary to grant such funds as may be necessary to enable such State to acquire title to or interest in such streams and abating lands. Requires such State agency to show that it is able to acquire such interests, and that it will maintain the streams and their environs in their natural state as preconditions to the granting of funds under this Act. Permits any State receiving such assistance to regulate the use of such streams. Requires Federal agencies to limit their operations on and over lands within the watershed of any such streams for which assistance is granted under this Act. Requires any State receiving such assistance to appoint a citizens' advisory committee which shall make an annual report to the Secretary with respect to the status, fees, rules, supervisory practices and use of such streams. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1977
Right to Private Records Act - Prohibits any financial institution from disclosing to any State or to any subdivision of any State any financial record of a customer unless such customer has so authorized or a valid search warrant, subpena or summons has been obtained according to the terms of this Act. States that no officer, employee or agent of any financial institution, communication common carrier, creditor or credit reporting agency holding any financial, toll, or credit record who is required by law to notify any law enforcement official or any political subdivision of any State of any criminal law violation which such person believes is being committed shall disclose any information except in accordance with this Act. Makes provisions for general or limited authorization of disclosure of any financial, toll, or credit record by means of a written statement containing specified information. Permits revocation of such authorization by written notification at any time, and otherwise limits to one year, any authorization to disclose. Prohibits any financial institution, communication common carrier, creditor, credit reporting agency or other person from requiring any person to make such authorization as a condition for doing business. Prescribes standards for the issuance of search warrants and judicial subpenas. Provides that a court may grant a subpena with a temporary delay of notification for a period of not greater than 90 days following the date of issuance if it finds, on the basis of an affidavit or sworn testimony, that it has been affirmatively demonstrated that such notification would jeopardize a continuing investigation of any crimes enumerated in this Act. Allows courts to enter ex parte orders granting an additional delay of such notification period not to exceed 180 days. Requires judges who grant or deny such delays to report to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts the particulars of such request. States that the Director of such office shall transmit to the Congress an annual report concerning the number of applications for extension of delay and the number of extensions granted or denied during the preceding calendar year. Grants standing to move to quash a subpena to any person to whom the financial, toll, or credit record ordered to be disclosed relates. Sets civil remedies available to persons injured by violations of this Act, including actual and punitive damages, attorney's fees and injunctive relief. Sets criminal penalties imposed on persons violating this Act. Prohibits any officer, employee, or agent of any person or government agency from intercepting, in the course of carrying out the business operations of such person or agency, oral or wire communications by or to any other officer, employee, or agent of such person or agency unless: (1) written notice is given; (2) such interceptions are for the purpose of training; (3) such interceptions occur only during the period specified in the notice required by this Act; (4) there is no recording of such communication; and (5) such person whose communication is intercepted has given written consent.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1977
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exclude from admission into, and provides for the deportation from, the United States of any alien who engaged or assisted in, or incited or directed others to engage in, the persecution of others on the basis of religion, race, or national origin under the direction of the Nazi government of Germany between March 23, 1933, and May 8, 1945.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1977
Internal Revenue Administration Act - Establishes the Internal Revenue Administration in the executive branch of the Federal Government for the purpose of administering and enforcing the Internal Revenue Code. Prescribes the terms and conditions of office for the Administrator of the Internal Revenue Administration. Transfers all present functions, instructions, rules, or regulations which were promulgated or administered by the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate with respect to the enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code, to the Internal Revenue Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1977
Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act - Allows an income tax credit for 30 percent of the expenditures not exceeding $750 which the taxpayer paid or incurred during the taxable year for installation of insulation or energy-conserving components which improve heating plant efficiency in his principal residence. Limits the application of this credit to expenditures paid or incurred for installations made between 1976 and 1982 in pre-existing dwellings. Reduces the allowable credit, on a graduated scale, for individuals with adjusted gross incomes greater than $10,000. Allows an income tax credit for 40 percent of the first $1,500, and a secondary credit for 25 percent of the next $7,600 paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year for the installation of qualified solar, wind and geothermal energy equipment in his principal residence. Allows an income tax credit for 20 percent of the first $1,500, and a secondary credit for 12.5 percent of the next $7,600 paid or incurred for the installation of wood stove, heat pump, or burner equipment in connection with new solar, wind or geothermal energy equipment which will be the principal source of space heat in the taxpayer's principal residence. Reduces these limitations in subsequent tax years by subtracting the amounts taken into account for these credits in previous tax years. Limits these credits to equipment installed between 1976 and 1982. Prorates each of the above credits for residential improvements among joint owners and cooperative shareholders according to their proportionate interests in the residential property. Provides for the carryover of any allowable credit which exceeds the taxpayer's current income tax liability. Reduces the allowable credits, on a graduated scale for and Conservation Act. persons with adjusted gross incomes greater than $15,000. Allows an investment tax credit for 25 percent of the qualified investment cost of depreciable geothermal, solar or wind energy equipment placed in service. Allows such a credit for 12 percent of the qualified costs of ventilation, heating, water and other components primarily designed to reduce the heat loss or gain of a structure, and origin ally used by the taxpayer. Prohibits these credits for property originally funded with Federal grants, or located in States which take these energy conserving measures into account for property assessment, or which don't enforce the thermal design requirements of the Energy Policy
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1977
Title I: Small Business Act Amendments - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration to make loans to assist small business concerns in financing plant construction and the acquisition of equipment and supplies for the producing of solar energy or other energy conserving equipment. Authorizes the appropriation of $75,000,000 for such purpose. Authorizes the Administration to provide additional assistance to small businesses in the area of training seminars and technical manuals on the design, installation, and maintenance of solar energy equipment. Title II: Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 Amendments - Amends the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 to establish an Office of Invention and Innovation in the Energy Research and Development Administration. Authorizes the Office to evaluate proposals for the development of energy-related inventions and to provide financial assistance for the development of such inventions. Stipulates that not less than 20 percent of the funds appropriated to the Energy Research and Development Administration for solar energy programs shall be expended for the benefit of small business concerns and individual inventors. Directs the Administrator of the Energy Research and Development Administration to encourage the participation of individuals and small businesses in the research, development, and advancement of energy-conserving technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1977
Industrial Energy Conservation Act - Directs the Administrator of Energy Research and Development to establish and maintain a comprehensive program for research, development, and demonstration of industrial energy conserving technologies. Specifies criteria that the Administrator is required to apply in reaching decisions regarding the directions, priorities, activities, and operations of the industrial energy conservation program. Authorizes the Administrator to make loans and loan guarantees for the purchase, construction, operation, or maintenance of energy-efficient equipment or facilities. Directs the Administrator to give special priority to loan recipients in depressed industrial areas. Establishes limits on the amount of outstanding indebtedness to be guaranteed under this Act. Stipulates that no guarantee or commitment to guarantee shall be undertaken after September 30, 1977. Details procedures in the event of a default on guaranteed obligations. Authorizes the appropriation of the following amounts for research and development programs authorized by this Act: (1) $55,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976; (2) $20,000,000 for the transitional quarter ending September 30, 1976; and (3) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 1977. Authorizes the appropriation of the following amounts for the purpose of making loans under this Act: (1) $22,500,000 for fiscal year 1975; (2) $45,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976; (3) $22,500,000 for the transitional quarter; and (4) $45,000,000 for fiscal year 1977. Authorizes the appropriation of up to $500,000,000 to be paid in the event of a default on obligations guaranteed under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1977
Establishes within the House of Representatives a Standing Committee on Intelligence to oversee and make continuing studies of the intelligence activities and programs of the United States Government, and to submit to the House proposals for legislation. Directs referral to the Committee of all matters relating to the Central Intelligence Agency and its Director, intelligence activities of all other Government departments and agencies, organization or reorganization of such departments and agencies related to intelligence activities, and authorizations for appropriations for specified departments and agencies. Amends rules X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to establish a procedure whereby certain legislation reported by the Committee may be referred to other standing committees for consideration, and conversely from other standing committees to the Committee. Requires the Committee to obtain an annual report from the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secretaries of State and of Defense, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation reviewing the intelligence activities of the agency or departments, and of foreign countries directed at the United States. Sets forth procedures whereby the Committee may disclose publicly any information in its possession which will serve the public interest. Requires the Committee to notify the President of any such proposed disclosure if the information has been previously classified, submitted to it by the executive branch, and if the executive branch has requested that such information by kept secret. Permits the Committee, upon objection by the President to disclosure, to refer the question to the House for consideration. Authorizes the House to (1) approve the public disclosure, (2) disapprove the public disclosure, or (3) leave the final determination to the Committee. Allows the Committee to make certain information regarding lawful intelligence activities which has been classified, available to other committees or Members under specified circumstances. Requires the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate an unauthorized disclosures. Prohibits the appropriation of funds for any fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1978 for specified intelligence activities of Federal departments or agencies unless such funds have been authorized by a House bill or joint resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1977
Declares it the sense of Congress that the President should declare a moratorium on United States manufacture of chemical weapons (lethal and incapacitating nerve and mustard agents and "binary agents') and order the destruction of certain United States stockpiles of such weapons. Urges other nations to destroy their stockpiles. Urges the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament to conclude a treaty banning the manufacture and possession of such weapons.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 1977
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act - Title I: Franchise Protection - Prohibits a franchisor from terminating or failing to renew a franchise unless specified conditions exist. Enumerates the basis upon which a franchisor may terminate or fail to renew a franchise. Exempts trial franchises from the requirements of this Act. Requires that 90 days advance notice of termination or nonrenewal be made in writing and delivered to the franchisee. Directs the Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration to publish in the Federal Register a summary of this Act. Authorizes civil actions in a United States district court against any franchisor who violates any requirement of this Act. Provides for the preemption of State laws unless such law is the same as the applicable provisions of this Act. Title II: Octane Disclosure - Requires the Federal Trade Commission to: (1) establish testing procedures for the determination of the octane rating of automotive gasoline; (2) establish requirements applicable to refiners with respect to the testing of automotive gasoline; (3) establish a certification procedure applicable to the distribution of automotive gasoline; and (4) establish requirements applicable to retailers of gasoline with respect to display of the octane rating of automotive gasoline at the point of sale. Prohibits any person who distributes automotive gasoline from making representations respecting the octane rating of gasoline unless the gasoline has been tested in accordance with the procedures established by the Federal Trade Commission. Grants to the Commission the procedural, investigative, and enforcement powers necessary to make effective the rules required to be prescribed. Makes it an unfair or deceptive act or practice in or affecting commerce under the Federal Trade Commission Act to violate the rules prescribed by this Act. Authorizes judicial review of the rules prescribed under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 1977
Constituent Postal Card Act - Sets the postage rate for a postal card mailed to the official address of a Member of Congress by a Constituent of such Member at an amount equal to the cost of the manufacture, printing, and delivery of such card.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1977
Public Participation in Federal Agency Proceedings Act - Authorizes each Federal agency to award reasonable attorneys' fees and other costs of participation in all rulemaking, ratemaking, licencing, and other proceedings which relate directly to the health, safety, civil rights, environment, and economic well-being of consumers in the marketplace. Permits such awards if the person participating in the agency proceeding represents an interest the representation of which contributes or can reasonably be expected to contribute substantially to a fair determination of the proceeding, and the economic interest of the person in the outcome is small in comparison to the costs of effective participation in the proceeding or the person demonstrates to the satisfaction of the agency that such person does not have sufficient resources to participate effectively in the proceeding absent an award under this Act. Requires the agency to make a determination of eligibility under this Act prior to timely participation in the proceeding if at all possible. Requires payment of an award under this Act within 90 days after the date of final decision. Allows such agency to make advance payments to permit the persons to participate or to continue to participate in the proceeding. Makes such recipient liable for repayment of such advance if the agency determines that the person clearly has not provided the representation for which the payments were made or that the person has acted in an obdurate, dilatory, mendacious, or oppressive manner toward any other participant. Permits persons seeking judicial review of a Federal agency's action to recover attorneys' fees and other reasonable costs of litigation from the United States if: (1) the plaintiff is afforded the relief sought in substantial measure; (2) the court determines that such action served an important public purpose; and (3) the economic interest of the person is small in comparison to the costs of effective participation in the action, or such person does not have sufficient resources to participate effectively in the action absent an award under this section. Requires the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to submit to Congress an annual report on awards of attorneys' fees and litigation expenses against the United States. Authorizes to be appropriated (1) for awards to participants in agency proceedings under this Act, $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1978, 1979, and 1980; and (2) for awards to persons seeking judicial review of agency actions under this Act, such sums as may be necessary to make such awards for actions brought prior to the end of fiscal year 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1977
National Home Health Care Act - Broadens the coverage of home health services under Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act and removes the 100-visit limitation presently applicable to the home health service program. Extends the coverage of posthospital home health services to include payment for items and services which the individual could otherwise obtain in a skilled nursing facility. Amends Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require the inclusion of home health services in a State's Medicaid program and permit the payment of rent under such program for elderly and handicapped persons who would otherwise require nursing home care. Provides expanded Federal funding for congregate housing for the displaced and the elderly by increasing the amount available for such housing under the low-income housing program. Establishes, in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, a Home Health Patient Ombudsman, who shall be appointed and provided with adequate staff and facilities by the Secretary. Makes it the duty and responsibility of the ombudsman to monitor specified programs under the Social Security and the various medical assistance programs under the State plans approved pursuant to such Act, and to maintain such oversight of those programs and their operation and administration as may be necessary to: (1) assure that home health patients under such programs are receiving the care to which they are entitled: (2) provide safeguards against over-charging for home health services; (3) identify abuses against home health patients; (4) receive, handle, and expedite complaints by home health patients; (5) recommend to the Secretary any changes in the regulations affecting home health services which may appear necessary or desirable; and (6) take appropriate action (including the transmission of findings to the Attorney General) with respect to abuses and violations of law affecting the provision or receipt of home health services under such programs. Requires the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to conduct a study and report to the Congress on the feasibility of extending to the Medicare program the prospective cost-related method of computing payments to nursing homes and home health agencies which is currently provided under the Medicaid program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1977
Title I: Survey and Certification, Rate-Setting and Audit, and General Regulation of Long Term Care Facilities Under Medicaid Programs - Directs that State plans under Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act must provide that no skilled nursing facility may receive payments under such plan unless and until it is approved to receive payments under Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Requires the State plan to give the State agency the power to terminate reimbursement to a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility which such agency has found has violated its provider agreement. States that payment of the skilled nursing facility and intermediate care facility services shall be based upon a prospective cost based method of computation in which the audited costs of rendering service in such facilities in a prior year is updated through the use of economic indices to the year in which payment is made. Requires that any skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility receiving payments under such plan be required to maintain with the State agency a bond in such amount, under such terms, and in such form as the State agency may direct. Title II: Medical, Psychological, and Social Assessment of Patients In Need of Long Term Care under Medicare and Medicaid Programs - Directs that payments for services furnished an individual may be made only to eligible providers of services and only if a physician certifies that such services are necessary, based on such patient assessment criteria as the Secretary may require.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1977
Redesignates the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Superior National Forest, Minnesota, as the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area. Specifies restrictions relating to timber harvesting, mining, and use of recreational vehicles within such area. Increases to one and one-quarter percent of the fair appraised value the amount payable to the State of Minnesota with respect to lands within the Superior National Forest.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1977
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to designate lands in Hyde Park, New York, as the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site and to acquire such lands. Directs the Secretary to manage the site and to arrange studies, lectures, and seminars to be conducted at the site through agreements with qualified public or private entities. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1977
Accelerated Depreciation Allowance Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to elect accelerated amortization (twice the allowable depreciation deduction) for manufacturing property placed in service in States having an unemployment rate which is greater than six percent between October 1, 1976 and October 1, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1977
Requires creditors, under the Truth in Lending Act, to post, at each place of business where they extend credit to consumers, a sign which states clearly and conspicuously the current rates of interest being charged for each category of loan.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1977
Endangered American Wilderness Act - Designates specified lands in the following national forests as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Tongass National Forest, Alaska; (2) Coronado National Forest, Arizona; (3) Inyo and Sequoia National Forests, California; (4) Los Padres National Forest, California; (5) Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado; (6) Cibola National Forest, New Mexico; (7) Willamette National Forest, Oregon; (8) Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon; (9) Wasatch and Uinta National Forests, Utah; and (10) Umatilla National Forest, Washington and Oregon. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to review the feasibility and suitability of designating as wilderness specified lands in the following national forests: (1) Coronado National Forest, Arizona; (2) Rio Grande and Gunnison National Forests, Colorado; (3) Lolo and Kootenai National Forests, Montana; (4) Santa Fe and Carson National Forests, New Mexico; and (5) Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming. Includes specified lands in the Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1977
Long-Term Care Services Act - Amends Title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to authorize the establishment of an experimental program to provide in-home care for elderly individuals. Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to subsidize families who agree to care for their dependents who are 65 years of age or older and who would otherwise require, because of physical or mental infirmities, the services of a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, in their own homes. Amends Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide payment for elderly day care center services under the supplementary medical insurance program. Directs the Secretary to institute a program under which qualified organizations, public and private, will submit plans for the development of carefully conceived and innovative projects to meet the special health care, housing, and related needs of elderly persons in a campus-type setting. Authorizes the Secretary to make interest subsidy payments to holders of mortgages covering such projects. Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to insure mortgages secured by properties in projects built pursuant to this Act. Amends Title XVIII to provide payment for extended and intermediate care services under the supplementary medical insurance program. Amends Title XVIII to provide for the creation of an alternative reimbursement formula which will allow participating hospitals with less than 100 beds and less than 60 percent average occupancy to provide long-term care without applying proportional allocation of overhead costs to all patients in such facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1977
Geriatric Health Personnel Training Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act (Health Research and Teaching Facilities and Training of Professional Health Personnel) to authorize the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to grant $500,000 for each of six schools of medicine to assist in the establishment and operation of departments of geriatrics. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to assist schools of medicine in the establishment and operation of continuing education programs in geriatrics for physicians. Authorizes the appropriation of $2,500,000 for fiscal year 1978, and $5,000,000 for each of the next three fiscal years to enable the Secretary to make grants to schools of medicine to assist in developing and conducting training programs designed to prepare armed forces veterans, with appropriate experience as paramedical personnel, to serve as medical assistants in long-term health care facilities. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and enter into contracts with public or nonprofit colleges and universities for the development of graduate programs for nurses in geriatrics and gerontology. Amends the National Labor Relations Act to make it an unfair labor practice for an employer to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee who has testified before any congressional committee or any governmental agency or department.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1977
Nursing Home Reform Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize a deduction for amounts paid during the taxable year by the taxpayer for nursing home expenses for an individual if such individual is a dependent of the taxpayer in all respects except the receipt of at least half of his support from such taxpayer. Permits the payment of supplemental security income to residents in nonmedical shelter care facilities in any State if such State certifies that the residents are ambulatory, needing only minimum supervision, and that the amount of State supplementation is not less than $100 per resident per month. Amends Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to redefine the term "skilled nursing facility" to require that such facilities, in order to qualify under Title XVIII, provide the services set forth in this Act. Requires the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to conduct a review of State plans approved under Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act at least once a year to determine each State's compliance with and the quality of the administration of its plan. Directs the Secretary to establish a rating system for nursing homes participating in the programs under titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act. States that whoever shall offer, solicit, receive, or accept any consideration as compensation or inducement for referring patients, clients, or customers to any person for purposes of Titles XVIII and XIX shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Requires nursing facilities to provide a program to insure the integrity of patients' accounts, moneys, or valuables and to insure that they are not mingled with those belonging to the facility. Specifies that the Secretary shall pay to the States an amount equal to 100 percent of the sums expended in the enactment of, conversion to, and enforcement of, new enforcement tools short of nursing home licensure revocation. Allows beneficiaries to bring suit for specific performance in any Federal district court without reference to the $10,000 jurisdictional amount. Authorizes the Secretary to make loans to any nonprofit organization, church, or association of churches to meet all or a part of the cost of construction or rehabilitation of a home which will be owned and operated by such church, organization, or association. Authorizes the Secretary to make interest reduction payments under specified circumstances with respect to a mortgage covering repair or rehabilitation of a nursing home in order to correct physical deficiencies and comply with Federal minimum standards. Establishes a program of grants to any church, association of churches, or other nonprofit organization to meet all or part of the cost of planning, developing, constructing, or rehabilitating a nursing home owned by such entity in black and other minority areas where there is a demonstrated shortage of nursing home beds. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President submit to the Congress an action plan which would provide a suitable multiagency plan for dealing with nursing home abuses. Authorizes the President to call a White House Conference on Long-Term Care in 1978, in order to develop recommendations for action in establishing a national policy with respect to the needs of disabled Americans with primary emphasis on the physically and mentally impaired aged.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1977
Removes the limitation on the amount of outside income which an individual may earn while receiving benefits under title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the charitable deduction allowed for expenses incurred in the operation of a motor vehicle shall include the depreciation, operation and maintenance costs allocable to such operation and shall be determined in the same manner as for a business related deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the excise tax, buses purchased by tax exempt organizations or by other persons for exclusive use in furnishing transportation for a State or local government or a tax exempt organization (currently, transportation must be limited to students and employees of schools).
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1977
Medicare Long-Term Care Act - Repeals existing provisions for post-hospital home health services under Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Establishes, within the hospital insurance program of such Title, a program of long-term care benefits to be provided for aged and disabled individuals including all recipients of supplemental security income benefits and to be financed without additional cost to such individuals, through the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, from funds appropriated by the Federal Government. States that the benefits provided to an individual by such program shall consist of: (1) home health services; (2) homemaker services; (3) nutrition services; (4) long-term institutional care services; (5) day care and foster home services; and (6) community mental health center outpatient services. Requires that, to the maximum extent possible, such benefits shall be provided by or through community long-term care centers, as defined in this Act; and, in any case where a State has an agency which performs the functions of planning and developing such centers and overseeing their operation the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall make grants to the State or State agency to reimburse it for expenses incurred in the performance of such functions. Directs the Secretary to pay 75 percent of the amount expended by a State for the operation of a State long-term care agency. Enumerates the functions of such an agency. Declares that a community long-term care center shall: (1) provide the items and services listed in this Act to each individual (i) who is eligible for benefits under this part, (ii) who resides in the area served by such center and (iii) who is certified as requiring such services; (2) evaluate and certify the long-term care needs of an individual for whom such care may be required in order to maintain such individual in an independent living arrangement which is reasonable given such individual's state of health and other circumstances (but not including such individual's economic circumstances); (3) maintain a continuous relationship with (and periodically evaluate not less than annually) each individual who is receiving any of the items and services listed in this Act; (4) provide full opportunity for such individual and his family to participate in the determinations and functions under this Act; (5) provide an organized system for making its existence and location known to all individuals in its service area who are eligible for benefits under this part, and for making known to such individuals the method or methods by which they may most efficiently obtain and use the services which it makes available; and (6) perform such other functions as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare may by regulation prescribe in order to have such center most effectively carry out the purposes of this Act. Defines terms used in this Act, including the services to be provided by community long-term care centers. Directs the Secretary to develop and promulgate to community long-term care centers one or more methods of obtaining payment for the benefits covered under this Act. Requires the Secretary to prescribe regulations setting forth the standards of care for homemaker and nutritional services. Establishes the Federal Advisory Council on Long-Term Care. Sets forth the qualifications of the five members of such Council. States that it shall be the duty and function of the Council to provide advice and recommendations for the consideration of the Secretary on regulations under this Act and on matters of general policy with respect to this Act. States that no regulations of the Secretary under this Act shall become effective unless they have first been approved by the Council. States that the determination of whether an individual is entitled to benefits under this shall be made by the Secretary in accordance with regulations prescribed by him. Authorizes the appropriation to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund of such sums as the Secretary considers necessary for any fiscal year for the purposes of the program created by this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and enter into contracts with institutions to meet the cost of training programs in the techniques and methods of providing long-term health care.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kostmayer, Peter H. [D-PA-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000319_200.jpg)