United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1989
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Amendments of 1989 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to increase authorized appropriations under such title. Adds the promotion and provision of family-centered, community-based, coordinated care for children with special health care needs to the purposes to which title V block grants to States shall be devoted. Increases amounts set aside from the block grant program to enable the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and expand: (1) maternal and infant health home visiting programs; (2) integrated maternal and child health service delivery systems; (3) maternal and child health centers; and (4) maternal and child health projects serving rural populations. Authorizes States to use block grant funds to pay the salaries of National Health Service Corps personnel. Prohibits States from using more than ten percent of block grant funds for administering such funds. Requires States to use at least: (1) 30 percent of block grant funds for preventive and primary care for pregnant women, mothers, and infants; (2) 30 percent of such funds for preventive and primary care for children; and (3) 30 percent of such funds on children with special health care needs. Permits a waiver of such requirement if a State demonstrates an extraordinary unmet need for one of the activities. Requires State agencies administering a State's title V program to assist individuals who are eligible for assistance under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act in applying for Medicaid benefits. Requires title V providers to provide Medicaid services. Imposes maternal and child health reporting requirements on States and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Provides States with Federal, technical assistance in developing consistent and accurate maternal and child health data collection mechanisms. Directs the Secretary to develop: (1) a model application form for use in applying, simultaneously, for assistance for a pregnant woman or a child under age six under specified maternal and child assistance programs; and (2) a national system for linking an infant's birth record, such infant's death record, and information on Medicaid claims submitted with respect to such infant or his or her birth.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1989
Living Wage Act of 1990 - Title I: Earned Income Tax Credit - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions governing the earned income tax credit to: (1) increase from $5,714 to $7,000 the amount of earned income subject to the credit; (2) increase the basic credit from 14 percent to 15 percent; and (3) add additional credits to apply to not more than four children of five percent for each dependent school age child between age six and age 16 and ten percent for each preschool age child. Reduces the amount of the credit for taxpayers with adjusted gross income over $40,000. Indexes amounts relating to the credit beginning in 1992. Disallows application of the nonrefundable dependent care income tax credit with respect to a taxpayer's dependents under age 13, unless the child is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. Permits the credit with respect to handicapped children under age 15 only if the taxpayer elects not to include the child within the framework of the earned income credit. Repeals provisions of the Family Support Act of 1988 that revise the way in which the earned income credit is treated in the context of needs analysis for purposes of State plans for aid and services to needy families with children under title IV of the Social Security Act. Title II: Federal Minimum Wage - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (the Act) to increase the minimum wage per hour from $3.35 in 1989 to: (1) $3.65 in 1990; (2) $3.95 in 1991; and (3) $4.25 in 1992 and thereafter. Increases the tip credit under the Act from 40 percent to 50 percent. (The tip credit deems the amount paid to a tipped employee, for minimum wage purposes, to be increased by an amount determined by the employer, but not by an amount in excess of the specified percentage of the applicable minimum wage rate). Increases the small business exemption by revising the definition of an enterprise engaged in commerce, for purposes of coverage under the Act ("the enterprise test"). Exempts from such coverage enterprises whose annual gross volume of sales or business is less than $500,000 (currently $362,500), effective in 1990. Requires employers who were covered in 1988, but who are exempt under the new threshold, to continue to pay the $3.35 per hour minimum wage. Authorizes employers, in lieu of the minimum wage, to pay a newly hired employee not less than $3.35 an hour and thereafter not less than 80 percent of the increased minimum wage. Applies the rights and protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to employees in the House of Representatives, employees under the Architect of the Capitol, and employing authorities of the House of Representatives. Authorizes employers to employ any employee for periods of not more than ten hours in excess of the 40-hour maximum without paying overtime if during such periods the employee is receiving remedial education.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1989
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means should review the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 and hold hearings in the process of such review.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1989
Authorizes the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to present a bronze medal to individuals: (1) who were members of the armed forces and were present in Hawaii on December 7, 1941; and (2) who participated in combat operations that day against Japanese military forces attacking Hawaii. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike such medals. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal. Authorizes appropriations which are to be reimbursed out of the proceeds from sales of the medals.
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
Aviation Security and Terrorism Commission Act of 1989 - Establishes the Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism to investigate events leading up to and surrounding the destruction of Pan American World Airways flight 103 on December 21, 1988, and the destruction of Korean Air Lines flight 007 on August 31, 1983. Terminates the Commission 30 days after it makes required reports.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1989
Uranium Enrichment Reorganization Act - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to establish the United States Uranium Enrichment Corporation as a wholly-owned Government corporation to conduct uranium marketing and enrichment activities as a commercial, profitable, self-financing enterprise. Provides for a Board of Directors appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Prescribes guidelines for: (1) certain property transfers from the Department of Energy; and (2) the Corporation's capital structure, pricing policies, and user charges for decommissioning, decontamination, and remedial activities. Requires the Corporation to prepare an annual status report for the President and the Congress. Prescribes licensing and taxation guidelines for the Corporation. Sets guidelines for payments in lieu of taxes by the Corporation to States and local governments. Directs the Board to make recommendations to the President regarding the transfer of its functions and assets to private ownership. Declares that the Corporation's receipts, proceeds, and recoveries (including deposits in the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund) shall be available without fiscal year limitations and without further appropriations. Applies Federal environmental and occupational safety and health law to the Corporation as though it were privately owned. Establishes the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund to cover the Corporation's decommissioning and decontamination expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1989
Disaster Assistance Act of 1989 - Title I: Emergency Crop Loss Assistance for Annual Crops - Extends disaster crop loss assistance through the 1989 crop year for wheat, feed grains, peanuts, sugar, tobacco, soybeans, and other nonprogram crops. Extends crop quality reduction disaster assistance through the 1989 crop year. Reduces disaster assistance payments in relation to Federal crop insurance payments. Requires producers to obtain Federal crop insurance for 1990 in order to be eligible for disaster payments and other specified assistance for 1989 crop losses. Sets forth exempted circumstances. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to announce within a specified time the conditions for establishing a 1989 farm yield for forage-use crops. Limits assistance under this Act at $100,000. Authorizes the Secretary to determine a de minimis yield for each crop eligible for reduced yield disaster payments under this Act. Title II: Forest Crops and Conservation Measures - Directs the Secretary to provide assistance to tree farmers who lost seedlings in 1989 as a result of drought conditions. Limits assistance to any one person to $25,000. Prohibits the Secretary from reducing rental payments to an owner or operator who harvests 1989 hay on land subject to a conservation reserve program contract to the extent that such owner or operator carries out and pays for specified additional conservation practices. Title III: Administrative Provisions - Makes a person with qualifying annual gross income (as defined by this Act) in excess of $2,000,000 ineligible for assistance under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1989
New Drug and Device Application Fee Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish fees to cover the costs of review for: (1) food additives; (2) new drugs; (3) antibiotic drugs; (4) medical devices; (5) new animal drugs; and (6) biologic products licensing.
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 · 23 May 1989
American Family Act of 1989 - Title I: Programs Focusing on Education - Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary for purposes of this title) to make five-year grants to not more than ten State educational agencies for school-based management projects in one or more local educational agencies (LEAs) in those States. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to authorize the Secretary to make grants to LEAs for parental choice open enrollment programs in public schools. Requires an independent evaluation of such programs to be reported to the Congress by October 1, 1992. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Amends ESEA to direct the Secretary to make grants to eligible LEAs for character education programs. Requires LEAs, as a condition of eligibility for such grants, to certify that the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag is part of the daily program of each of their elementary and secondary schools. Directs the Secretary to disseminate information on successful character education programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Secretary to make bootstrap school program competitive grants to eligible LEAs which serve qualified areas to enhance the quality of primary and secondary education. Requires that special consideration be given to applications that describe programs which will serve poverty areas. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Secretary to make three-year grants to not more than five States to provide bonus pay to special education teachers as an incentive to keep them in that field. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Title II: Family Support and Stability - Requires congressional committees to include family impact statements in their reports of public bills or joint resolutions. Makes it not in order for either House of the Congress to consider a public bill or joint resolution if the committee report does not contain such a statement. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to direct the Congressional Budget Office to assist such committees, at their request, to prepare such statements. Requires each executive agency to include a family impact statement in every recommendation or report on a proposal for legislation or other major Federal action significantly affecting families in the United States. Requires each agency to use approaches and develop procedures to give appropriate consideration to potential effects of its proposed actions, decisions, and activities on such families. Requires agency review of existing authorities, rules, and policies and procedures, and a report to the President and the Congress on such review, with recommendations, within one year after enactment of this Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a refundable child tax credit and a refundable child and dependent care tax credit. Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, to direct public housing agencies to set maximum monthly rents for their tenants. Amends the Federal criminal code to make it a Federal criminal offense to leave or remain outside a State for the purpose of avoiding payment of arrearages in child support. Title III: Programs Focusing on Children - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to eligible applicant organizations to improve health, family, and preschool services for families with children under age 13. Sets forth eligibility requirements for such organizations, including location in or near a high risk area for infant mortality, teenage pregnancy, or high school dropouts. Includes among such services prenatal and postnatal care, nutritional lunches, on-site nurse practitioners, family drop-in centers, Head Start program associated services, parenting education, drug abuse prevention, family- or center-based child care, and after-school child care. Gives primary consideration to the service delivery location. Limits such grants to a specified portion of start-up costs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Secretary of Education to allot funds to State education agencies, according to a formula based on State population, for demonstration grants for LEA early childhood education programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Secretary of Education to make a grant to each of 20 eligible applicant LEAs for early childhood family education programs in public schools that are in the greatest need. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 for grants to schools in greatest need. Directs the Secretary of Education to disseminate to States and LEAs information on the Parents as Teachers Program National Center sponsored by the State of Missouri and the Early Childhood Education Project sponsored by the State of Minnesota. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Secretary of HHS to make grants to eligible applicant organizations for family preservation programs to assist families in order to prevent the placement of children in foster care. Requires that such assistance include all of the following: (1) clothing; (2) cleaning and housing locator services; (3) family counseling and communication skills services; and (4) referrals to other organizations and State agencies. Gives preference to applicants in areas with the highest percentages of children in foster care, but requires that a diversity of geographical areas be represented among grant recipient locations. Requires that ten grants for training, technical assistance, and program implementation be made in ten different geographical areas. Directs the Secretary of HHS to enter into a contract with a selected organization to study and report on the effectiveness of programs receiving such grants. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax deduction for certain limited expenses of adopting a child with special needs. Amends Federal law relating to the Armed Forces to authorize the Secretary of Defense to reimburse any member of the armed forces serving on active duty for certain limited expenses of adopting a child under age 18. Repeals specified provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 which provided for a test program for reimbursement of adoption expenses. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for an exclusion from the gross income of an employee of certain limited amounts paid or expenses incurred by the employer for adoption assistance provided to the employee if it is furnished under an adoption assistance program. Amends Federal law to provide for reimbursement to a Federal employee of certain limited expenses of adopting a child under age 18 (but not including an adoption in which one of the adopting parents is the biological parent). Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to prescribe regulations for such child adoption benefits, except that specified officials of legislative and judicial branches shall prescribe regulations for their respective employees. Directs the Attorney General to make incentive grants to eligible States which by September 30, 1990, enact and enforce State laws requiring juvenile offenders and their parents to pay restitution to their victims. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Attorney General to make incentive grants to eligible States which by September 30, 1990, enact and enforce State laws that require juvenile offenders to pay restitution to their victims and to: (1) serve a term of confinement at a correctional facility if their offense was violent; or (2) perform community service if their offense was nonviolent. Sets forth eligibility requirements identical to those for the aforementioned grants for restitution laws. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (the Administrator) to make incentive grants to eligible States which by September 30, 1990, enact and enforce State laws that: (1) provide for appropriate treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, counseling, and employment of juvenile offenders upon release; and (2) require that a single caseworker be assigned to each such juvenile to obtain available services, coordinate the juvenile's activities, and perform all required supervisory functions. Bases such grants on need, giving special consideration to States containing areas in which a large number of juveniles participate in activities of gangs that commit crimes. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to eligible States to carry out not fewer than ten demonstration projects to provide character education to juveniles confined to juvenile detention facilities for being delinquent. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Directs the Administrator to establish and operate a clearinghouse on juvenile justice in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for information on criminal gangs with juvenile members. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to private nonprofit community-based organizations for activities to prevent or reduce the participation of juveniles in the activities of gangs that commit crimes. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to eliminate restrictions on the child's insurance eligibility of individuals who are legally adopted in the United States by parents who are already entitled to old-age or disability insurance benefits. Directs the Secretary of Education to make three-year grants to not more than five States to provide bonus pay to special education teachers as an incentive to keep them in that field. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. (These provisions are identical to provisions at the end of title I of this Act.) Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to authorize the Secretary of HHS to make not more than eight grants to nonprofit private entities for demonstration projects to provide model shelters for victims of family violence and their dependents. Requires grant recipients to: (1) also use non-Federal contributions; (2) provide a variety of specified services; (3) utilize a significant number of volunteers; (4) respond to emergencies at all hours; (5) encourage victims and dependents to reside at the shelter for from three to 12 months; (6) provide at least 40 beds; and (7) assure their future access to other resources to continue operation. Requires equitable geographic distribution, including one grant for a model shelter in the District of Columbia. Requires evaluation of such projects and dissemination of results. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990. Terminates such grants program after a specified aggregate amount has been obligated. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of HHS to establish, and the Assistant Secretary of Health to administer, a program of demonstration grants to teaching hospitals or community mental health centers with staff affiliations with teaching hospitals to provide comprehensive family drug treatment programs and social work follow-up for individuals in such programs. Directs the Assistant Secretary of Health to award ten such grants in limited amounts and terms. Requires grant recipients to provide program evaluation data to media agencies within their State and to State and local agencies involved in drug-related activities. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Sunset Provision - Terminates the grant programs established by this Act at the end of the last fiscal year for which appropriations are authorized.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Guillermo Endara of the Civic Democratic Opposition Alliance should be invited to address a joint meeting of the Congress concerning the situation in Panama.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1989
Cable Competition Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a State or cable television franchising authority to regulate the rates that a cable operator may charge for the provision of lifeline television services for any franchising area which is not provided with cable service by two or more cable operators. Defines the "lifeline television service" as the provision of: (1) channels of the three major networks; (2) a public television channel; and (3) one channel carrying each independent local television station. Repeals a provision of such Act which prohibits a telephone company from providing video programming in its telephone service area. Allows a telephone company to: (1) provide video programming directly to subscribers; or (2) provide rental arrangements to any entity which is owned or controlled by, or under common control with, such telephone company for the provision of such video programming. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prescribe regulations to ensure that: (1) the economic risks of video programming business of a telephone company are not borne by telephone service ratepayers in any way; and (2) a common carrier providing video services allocates costs in a manner which protects basic telephone ratepayers from subsidizing the provision of cable video programming. Prohibits a telephone company from providing video programming services if prohibited from doing so by Federal antitrust laws. Makes it unlawful for any person (including a common carrier) to purchase or otherwise acquire control of a cable system without the permission of the franchising authority for that cable system. Prohibits a franchising authority from granting such authority unless: (1) it determines that cable subscribers will benefit from such acquisition; (2) it determines that the number of channels, the signal quality, and the types of services will be expanded; and (3) the person acquiring the cable system agrees to include an obligation to achieve such expanded benefits and services for its customers. Requires a cable operator to: (1) provide cable system access to any program service, except under specified conditions; (2) provide cable system access to any unaffiliated program service under the same rates, terms, and conditions as provided to an affiliated program; and (3) comply with regulations prescribed by the FCC which ensure such access. States that any regulations prescribed by the FCC shall not relieve a common carrier who provides cable service from any regulations under the above Act or any other regulations concerning open network architecture plans and related requirements. Makes it unlawful for any person affiliated with a cable operator who provides programming to any cable operator to engage in any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, regulations, facilities, or services against any person seeking to obtain such programming for distribution over another capable system or over any other medium capable of making the programming available for private viewing. Empowers U.S. district courts with jurisdiction to enforce such prohibitions. Directs the FCC to initiate a proceeding to investigate: (1) the extent to which affiliated persons are engaged in producing and distributing video programming for carriage on cable television systems; and (2) the degree to which such operations result in higher rates for television service or unfair or anticompetitive acts or practices with respect to such programming. Requires the FCC to report immediately to the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) any acts or practices found during such investigation that appear to violate any law within the jurisdiction of the Attorney General or the FTC. Directs the FCC to report to the Congress on the results of such investigation within one year after the enactment of this Act. Directs the FCC to initiate a proceeding to investigate: (1) the extent to which video programming is being delivered to residents of rural areas by means of cable television systems and other media; and (2) methods which might be used to improve and extend the delivery of such programming by such media. Directs the FCC to report the results of such investigations to the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act.
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 · 16 May 1989
Changes the date for which Memorial Day is designated as a legal public holiday from the last Monday in May to May 30. Changes Memorial Day as a particular day for displaying the flag from the last Monday in May to May 30. Makes Memorial Day an exception to the observance on Mondays.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the valuation of farmland for estate tax purposes to eliminate the limit on the reduction in fair market value of certain farmland if such land continues to be farmed for up to 30 years.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree on an estimate of total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year by enactment of a joint single subject resolution. Prohibits outlays for that year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding this amount unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of the total membership of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Federal Unemployment Tax Relief Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the temporary increase in the unemployment tax paid by employers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
White House Conference on Small Business Act - Calls upon the President to conduct a National White House Conference on Small Business once every four years to: (1) increase public awareness of the contributions of small business; (2) identify small business problems; (3) examine the status of minority and women small business owners; (4) assist small business in carrying out its role as the Nation's job creator; (5) develop specific recommendations for executive and legislative action; and (6) review the status of recommendations adopted at the preceding Conferences. Directs Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities to provide support and assistance to the planning of such Conferences. Requires a final report of each Conference, within six months from the date a Conference is convened, to be submitted to the President and the Congress. Requires the Small Business Administration to report annually to the Congress following the submission of the final report of the Conference. Authorizes appropriations.
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
Davis-Bacon Reform Act of 1989 - Amends the Davis-Bacon Act to increase from $2,000 to $250,000 the threshold amount subjecting certain contracts to such Act and requiring them to specify the minimum wages to be paid to laborers and mechanics. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish as the prevailing wage for a class of laborers or mechanics the entire range of wages being paid to a corresponding class of such workers in the particular urban or rural subdivision of the State in which the work is to be performed. Sets out the means for determining such prevailing wage in cases when more than a single wage is being paid to corresponding classes of workers. Excludes from the computation of wages the basic hourly rates of pay for workers on local Federal projects. Establishes a separate classification for helpers of laborers or mechanics, with their prevailing wages to be determined on the basis of the corresponding class of helpers. Prohibits the division of contracts into units of $250,000 or less for purposes of avoiding wage computation under such Act. Provides for administrative enforcement of such prohibition. Applies the increased contract amount threshold for coverage provided in this Act to other related Federal laws which use the Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage rate determination requirements. Provides that wages found to be due to laborers and mechanics pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act shall be paid to them directly from accrued payments withheld under the contract, in accordance with specified regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor. (Currently the Comptroller General makes such payments.) Directs the Administrator of General Services (rather than the Comptroller General) to distribute a list to all Federal agencies giving the names of persons or firms that the Secretary of Labor (rather than the Comptroller General) has found to have disregarded their obligations to employees and subcontractors. Amends the Copeland Act to require certain contractors or subcontractors to furnish compliance statements concerning weekly wages at the beginning, midpoint, and conclusion of the period covered by the contract, instead of every week as the wages are paid. Requires such statements at least every three months. Directs the Secretary of Labor and the Comptroller General to submit to the Congress annual reports describing the effects of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Copeland Act, and this Act on local wages and on local and national economies.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1989
Agricultural Nitrogen Management Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an Agricultural Nitrogen Best Management Practices Task Force to: (1) develop agricultural best management practices for agricultural nitrogen utilization; (2) develop related educational and training materials; and (3) report to the Congress with regard to such efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to make certain nonpoint source management reports available to the Task Force.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Medicaid Pregnant Women, Infants, and Children Amendments of 1989 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require States to provide Medicaid coverage to pregnant women and infants whose family income does not exceed 130 percent of the Federal poverty level. Requires States to make ambulatory prenatal care available to pregnant women during a 60-day presumptive eligibility period unless they fail to apply for Medicaid coverage within 14 days after the commencement of such period. Deems a food stamp card issued in a pregnant woman's name to be sufficient evidence of presumptive eligibility. Directs States to provide outreach and public education services in geographic areas with high rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes to inform low-income women of the need for and availability of prenatal care. Requires States to provide Medicaid coverage for the immunization of children under age six who are eligible for Medicaid or are receiving food stamps. Reduces Federal Medicaid administrative cost matching rates in excess of 50 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Designates the Labor Day weekend beginning on September 2, 1989, as National Drive for Life Weekend. Calls on people to observe that weekend with a pledge to not drink and drive.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Commission on the Mississippi River National Heritage Corridor Act of 1989 - Establishes the Commission on the Mississippi River National Heritage Corridor to investigate and make recommendations regarding: (1) the creation of a Mississippi River National Heritage Corridor, to run through Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin; and (2) other issues affecting the growth and development of the Corridor. Terminates such Commission 90 days after submission of a specified report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Requires a certain percentage of Federal fleets of passenger automobiles and light-duty trucks to be alternative fuel vehicles by specified deadlines if such vehicles are being operated in an area designated under the Clean Air Act as an area of serious health endangerment for ozone and/or carbon monoxide. Requires the Administrator of General Services and the Secretary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Energy, to issue regulations ensuring that such vehicles shall: (1) be supplied with alcohol, natural gas, other gaseous hydrocarbons, or electricity in the primary area of operation; and (2) be operated exclusively on such fuel (except when it is impracticable to obtain it). Requires funds appropriated to implement this Act to be expended first in those areas determined by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (the Administrator) to have the most severe air pollution problems. Prescribes circumstances under which such alternative fuels shall be offered for sale to the public. Mandates that the funds appropriated for alternative fuel vehicle acquisition apply only to the portion of costs which exceeds the cost for comparable conventional fuel vehicles. Directs the Secretary of Energy to ensure that the cost to any Federal agency receiving an alternative fuel vehicle under this Act not exceed the cost to such agency of a comparable conventional fueled vehicle. Mandates that gasoline powered Federal vehicles, with specified exceptions, which are operated in an area designated as seriously endangering health for carbon monoxide, and which are not dual energy (or natural gas dual energy), be operated exclusively with fuel which blends oxygenates with gasoline at their primary fueling facility. Requires underground fuel storage equipment installed or replaced at designated Federal facilities to be capable of safely storing alcohol. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress the results of a comprehensive analysis regarding the public health risk associated with the use of significant amounts of alcohol, natural gas, or other gaseous hydrocarbons as transportation fuels as compared to diesel and gasoline fuels. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991. Sets forth criteria for alternative fuel vehicles. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to authorize the distribution of a meat article or animal without charge to nonprofit private entities or to State, local, and Federal entities engaged in the distribution of food without charge to individuals, if the article or animal: (1) is in violation of the Act; (2) has been seized and condemned; (3) is capable of use as a human food; and (4) has been inspected under the Act. Relieves the United States and the person from whom the meat was seized and condemned from legal responsibility for the article or animal if it was found after inspection under the Act to be capable of use as a human food.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that an increase in estate taxes or the imposition of a capital gains tax at death would, by virtue of negative effects on family farms and family businesses, do more damage to the U.S. economy than the increased revenue would justify.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit through 1992 (under current law the credit will expire after December 31, 1989). Amends the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 to authorize appropriations through FY 1992 in connection with the targeted jobs credit. Raises from 23 to 25 years the age limitation with respect to economically disadvantaged youth targeted for credit purposes. Adds as a targeted group under the credit economically disadvantaged individuals who have completed a qualified drug rehabilitation program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Amends the Federal criminal code to provide enhanced criminal penalties for kidnapping children. Provides a minimum sentence of ten years' imprisonment (life imprisonment if any listed aggravating conduct exists) for such violation. States that persons sentenced under this Act shall not be granted a probationary or suspended sentence, and shall not be eligible for parole during the first five years (20 years if the offender engaged in any listed aggravating conduct) of such imprisonment. Includes as aggravating conduct: (1) selling the victim of such offense; (2) sexually abusing such victim; (3) using such victim for pornography; or (4) intentionally harming such victim physically to a life-threatening extent.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
States that it is the policy of the United States to: (1) bring about lasting peace, pluralism, and democracy in Nicaragua; and (2) guarantee that the February 1990 elections in Nicaragua are free and fair. Urges: (1) the Government of Nicaragua to undertake specified reforms, such as reinstating due process and fair trials, ending torture, allowing an uncensored free press, ensuring the right to strike and to publish for unions, and ending the forced relocation of Indians and Creoles; (2) such government to permit independent, international, and non-governmental human rights observers to meet and travel freely without harassment; and (3) all countries in Central America to continue to work toward achieving the democratic principles and processes specified in the August 7, 1987, Central American peace accord.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Provides for the establishment of categories of aliens who are subject to persecution in the Soviet Union or in Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos) and therefore admissible as refugees into the United States. Deems Jews and Evangelical Christians in the Soviet Union as such a category. Provides for the adjustment of status to refugee status for certain Soviet and Indochinese parolees residing in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to permit producers to provide county committees with actual crop yield data for 1989 and subsequent crop years. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) conduct a study of the alternative methods of determining payment yields and their impact on producers and commodity programs; and (2) report the results of such study to the appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Title I: Repeal of Certain Provisions in Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 - Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Amendments of 1989 - Repeals provisions of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 (the Act) establishing a Supplemental Medicare Premium and providing Medicare coverage (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) of prescription drugs and insulin, home intravenous drug therapy services, screening mammographies, and in-home care for chronically dependent individuals. Amends the Medicare program to increase the limit on Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) out-of-pocket expenses incurred by beneficiaries for 1990. Gears future adjustments of such limit to changes in expenses of the Medicare trust funds. Modifies the Act's premium financing mechanisms. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require States to establish the family income eligibility level for Medicaid coverage of Medicare cost-sharing amounts at at least 85 percent of the Federal poverty level. (Currently, States must phase-in such coverage for all families whose income is below the Federal poverty level.) Requires Medicaid coverage of prescription drugs for individuals who are at least 65 years old and whose income does not exceed 150 percent of the Federal poverty level. Directs the Boards of Trustees of the Medicare trust funds to include in their reports to the Congress in April 1990 an analysis, performed by the Secretary of the Treasury, of options to strengthen the long-term solvency of such trust funds. Title II: Tax Provisions Related to Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat certain long-term care insurance which the Secretary certifies is providing coverage to each covered person who is age 50 or older for at least one year for diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitation, maintenance, or personal care services provided in a setting other than the acute care unit of a hospital as accident or health insurance when taxing issuers of such insurance (hereafter referred to as qualified long-term care insurance). Provides that for the purpose of determining whether a tax exclusion applies to an employee's receipt of benefits from qualified long-term care insurance such benefits shall be considered to be for personal injury or sickness, and medical care. Excludes from taxation: (1) the portion of distributions from individual retirement plans which is used during the year to pay the premiums for qualified long-term care coverage of individuals who are age 59 1/2 or older on the date of distribution; and (2) amounts received when an individual who has attained age 65 surrenders, cancels, or exchanges a life insurance contract and used during such year to pay the premiums for qualified long-term care insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Organ Transportation Good Samaritan Act - Limits to gross negligence the liability of persons who without compensation transport by air in interstate commerce human transplant organs.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1989
Holloway-Schulze Toddler Tax Credit Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the custodial parent a refundable income tax credit for each dependent child under the age of six (five in 1990 through 1993). Establishes the credit amount as the lesser of $1,000 or 12 percent of income below $10,000 for a single qualified dependent. Limits application of the credit to two eligible dependents. Reduces the credit for taxpayers earning more than $10,000. Makes this credit and the employment-related dependent care credit mutually exclusive. Applies phase-in amounts for tax years beginning in 1990 through 1993. Indexes post-1994 credit amounts. Provides for advance toddler tax credit payments by employers to employees who provide certification of eligibility. Requires taxpayers to file information returns to reflect these payments. Reduces the amount of the employment-related dependent care credit for taxpayers with adjusted gross income above $50,000. Disallows application of the credit with respect to a taxpayer's dependent under age 13 who is physically and mentally capable of self-care. Repeals the income tax exclusion applied in connection with amounts furnished to an employee in accordance with an employer dependent care assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
World War I Veterans' Service Pension Act - Directs the Administrator (effective March 1989, Secretary) of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly pension of $150 to each veteran of World War I who meets specified service requirements. Requires such veteran, if receiving another pension administered by the Veterans Administration (effective March 1989, Department of Veterans Affairs) (VA), to elect which pension he will receive. Provides for the payment of a monthly pension of $100 to surviving spouses of World War I veterans who meet certain marriage requirements. Requires such surviving spouses to choose between pensions if they are currently receiving another pension through the VA.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Drug-Free Housing Act of 1989 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to make ineligible for public housing assistance, and expedite procedure for evicting, persons involved in drug-related criminal activity.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should: (1) give the highest priority to fully accounting for the Americans still missing in Southeast Asia and to negotiating the return of Americans still held captive; (2) maintain an ongoing dialogue with Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao officials so that the prisoners of war issue may be resolved; (3) continue joint field investigations with such officials; and (4) heighten public awareness of the prisoners of war issue through the dissemination of factual data.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Coast Guard License Verification Act - Amends the National Driver Register Act of 1982 to authorize applicants for new and renewed merchant seamen licenses and certificates of registry to serve on or operate a commercial vessel to request the chief State driver licensing official to transmit to the Commandant of the Coast Guard information regarding such applicants' motor vehicle driving records. Prescribes the use of such information by the Commandant. Precludes access to information that was entered more than three years before the date of request unless it relates to revocations or suspensions which are still in effect on the date of request. Directs the Commandant to initiate a rulemaking to require each applicant to make available to the Commandant information regarding the motor vehicle driving record of the applicant.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Missing Service Personnel Act of 1989 - Requires the responsible uniformed service commander, after receiving notice that a person under his command is missing, to conduct an informal investigation to determine such person's whereabouts and, if appropriate, to place such person in a missing status. Requires the commander, if a person has been placed in such status, to notify the officer holding general court-martial authority over such person (or, in the case of a missing civilian, the Secretary concerned), who shall convene a board of initial inquiry within 45 days. Requires such board to: (1) investigate evidence relating to the disappearance of such person; (2) recommend whether to continue such person in a missing status or make a finding that such person has deserted, is absent without leave, or is dead; and (3) report its recommendations and findings. Provides for the convening of a board of further inquiry, if a board of initial inquiry recommends that such person be continued in a missing status, within one year of such recommendation. Requires such board to analyze any information which has become available since the board of initial inquiry issued its report, to determine whether such person should be continued in a missing status or declared dead, and to report its findings. Directs the Secretary concerned, upon the written request of a member of the immediate family of a missing person who, before the date of the enactment of this Act, was determined by the Secretary to be dead, to: (1) convene a board of further inquiry to determine whether such finding of death should be upheld or such person should be placed in a missing status; and (2) report its findings. Requires the Secretary, within three years after a board of further inquiry recommends a missing status for any person, to reconvene such board to review such status. Specifies the composition of such boards. Directs the Secretary to invite each member of the immediate family of the missing person to the meetings of a board of initial inquiry unless attendance would place such member in danger. Requires the Secretary to: (1) invite family members of missing persons to meetings of boards of further inquiry; (2) schedule such meetings at convenient locations and times; (3) provide such family members with reasonable notice of such meetings; and (4) open such meetings to the general public. Authorizes each board to hold meetings, take testimony, receive evidence, and secure directly from any U.S. department or agency any information necessary to carry out its duties. Provides for the appointment of counsel by the officer or Secretary concerned to represent the missing person. Requires that, if a board determines that a missing person is dead, it shall include in its report a detailed description of the location and date of death, whether the body has been recovered, and whether a licensed practitioner of forensic medicine determined that the body recovered is that of the missing person. Prohibits any such board from declaring a missing person dead unless: (1) evidence other than the passage of a period of less than 50 years suggests that such person is dead; (2) no evidence which reasonably suggests that such person is alive is in the possession of the Government; (3) representatives of the Government have made a complete search of the area where such person was last seen (unless the United States is not granted access to such area); and (4) Government representatives have checked the records of the government or entity having control over the area where such person was last seen (unless the Government is not granted access to such records). Provides for judicial review of determinations of death upon the filing of a written petition by any member of the missing person's immediate family. Directs the Secretary of the uniformed service in which a missing person serves to make certain that such person's personnel file contains all information in the possession of Federal departments and agencies pertaining to the disappearance or whereabouts of such person. Requires the Secretary to make certain that, if classified information is withheld, such file contains: (1) a notice that the information exists; and (2) a notice of the date of the most recent review of the classification status of the information. Sets forth penalties for knowingly withholding information pertaining to the disappearance or whereabouts of a missing person from that person's personnel file. Requires the Secretary concerned to make the contents of such file available to a member of the immediate family of such person upon written request.
![Official portrait of Rep. Madigan, Edward R. [R-IL-15]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000041_200.jpg)