United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit for electric utility fuel surcharges incurred by a taxpayer in connection with a trade or business or for electricity used in such taxpayer's principal residence resulting from a shutdown of nuclear power generating facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
Requires any United States person who controls an enterprise in South Africa which employs more than 20 people to insure that in operating such enterprise the following employment principles are implemented: (1) no racial segregation in any employment facility; (2) equal employment for all employees; (3) equal pay for equal work; (4) establishment of a minimum wage and salary structure; (5) increase in the representation of nonwhites in managerial, supervisory, administrative, clerical, and technical jobs; (6) improvement of the quality of employees' lives outside the work environment; and (7) labor union recognition and fair labor practices. Directs the Secretary of State to establish an Advisory Council in South Africa to advise the Secretary with respect to the implementation of such employment principles and to review the annual reports which each U.S. person covered by this Act must submit to the Secretary on the progress made in implementing such principles. Directs the Secretary to establish in the United States an American Advisory Council to make policy recommendations regarding labor practices of U.S. persons in South Africa and to review such persons' progress in implementing such employment practices. Directs the Secretary: (1) to take specified actions to insure compliance with the implementation of such employment principles; and (2) to review the compliance of such persons at least biennially. Sets forth penalties for noncompliance. Authorizes the President to waive compliance with the implementation of such principles if such compliance would harm U.S. national security. Prohibits any U.S. financial or lending institution from making any loan directly or through a foreign subsidiary to South Africa unless such loan is for educational, housing or health facilities available to all persons on a nondiscriminatory basis. Prohibits the importation of any gold coin minted in South Africa or sold by South Africa. Requires any financial or lending institution which makes a loan directly or through a foreign subsidiary to any entity in South Africa other than the Government or a Government controlled organization to report annually to the Secretary on such loan. Makes such report available to the public. Directs the Secretary to take specified actions to enforce the prohibitions on loans and the importation of gold coins. Sets forth penalties for violations of such prohibitions. Authorizes the President to waive such prohibitions for one year if South Africa meets specified conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
Amends the Small Business Act to make Small Business Administration (SBA) loans available to State and local development companies for plant acquisition, construction, conversion, or expansion (including land acquisition) and to any small business for purposes of such Act. Removes limitations on the primary use of such loans. Increases the maximum amount of such loans from $500,000 to $750,000. Authorizes the SBA to add up to one percent to the interest rate on loans (currently one-quarter of one percent is added). Increases the maximum maturity from ten to 30 years. Makes small business concerns owned and controlled by Indian tribes and any public or private organizations which employ handicapped individuals for 75 percent or more of the man-hours required for their business eligible for loans under such Act. Permits the SBA to advance financial assistance to State or local development companies to assist identifiable small business concerns. Eliminates loans to corporations formed and capitalized by small businesses for the purpose of obtaining raw materials, equipment, inventories, supplies, or research and development benefits. Repeals provisions authorizing trade adjustment loans, loans to small businesses in high unemployment and low income areas or owned by low-income individuals, and loans for solar energy and energy conservation measures. Repeals provisions relating to specified reports. Repeals the authorizations of appropriations for SBA programs, salaries, and expenses for fiscal years 1981 through 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
El Salvador Assistance Act of 1981 - Authorizes the obligation of funds for military and economic assistance under specified Federal laws for El Salvador only if prior to each such grant of assistance the President certifies to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that El Salvador's Government: (1) is not engaged in consistently violating internationally recognized human rights; (2) has achieved substantial control over its armed forces; (3) is making progress in implementing essential economic and political reforms; (4) is committed to holding free elections; and (5) has demonstrated its willingness to negotiate a political resolution of the conflict. Directs the President, if such certification is not made or if such certification is made but does not take effect, to: (1) suspend specified military assistance and military education and training for El Salvador; (2) withhold approvals for use of certain credits and guarantees for El Salvador; (3) suspend deliveries of certain defense articles, defense services, and design and construction services; and (4) withdraw from El Salvador all U.S. armed forces performing specified functions. Prohibits such certification from taking effect until 30 days after Congress receives the certification. Requires it to take effect only if Congress does not adopt a concurrent resolution objecting to the provision of military assistance to El Salvador. Prohibits the President from making such certification until the President certifies that El Salvador's Government has made good faith efforts to investigate the murders of six U.S. citizens in El Salvador and to bring those responsible for the murders to justice. Includes the drawdown of defense articles or services in an unforeseen military emergency within the obligation of funds for military assistance which can be made only after such certification. Prohibits the waiver of such certification requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make the following loans available to small business concerns if credit is not otherwise available on reasonable terms: (1) loans for the repair or replacement of real or personal property damaged or destroyed by natural disaster or civil disorders; (2) loans for refinancing a mortgage or lien against a destroyed or substantially damaged house or business concern; and (3) loans for relief from major disasters as declared by the President or disasters as determined by the Administrator of the SBA pursuant to the Disaster Relief Act of 1970. Sets a maximum term of 30 years for such loans and a minimum interest rate equivalent to the rate in effect at the time such loans are made. Limits loan amounts to $500,000 for each disaster except if a loan applicant constitutes a major source of employment in a disaster-stricken area.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the: (1) U.S. representative to the World Health Assembly should vote for the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes; (2) American infant formula industry should abide by such code; (3) President should encourage other governments to call upon their infant formula industries to comply with this code; and (4) President should cooperate with governments of developing countries to develop health standards and programs to implement this code.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1981
Authorizes any State or local government election agency to send free of postage: (1) absentee ballots; (2) voting instructions pertaining to such ballots; and (3) envelopes for returning ballots. Permits any person casting an absentee ballot to return it to the agency postage-free. Provides that this Act shall not apply to mail transmitted under the Federal Voting Assistance Act of 1955 or the Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act of 1975.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the medical expenses of handicapped individuals and individuals who have attained age 65 shall be deductible without regard to the requirement that medical care expenses exceed three percent of the adjusted gross income and that the cost of medicine and drugs exceed one percent of the adjusted gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1981
Amends the Federal criminal code to make it a Federal crime to kill the Press Secretary to the President, a member of the immediate White House staff, or a Government employee holding a level 1 position of the Executive Schedule.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1981
Establishes a Special Joint Committee on the Centennial of the Birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Directs that such committee shall be composed of sixteen Members of the Congress. Directs that such committee shall prepare an overall program for nationwide observances and make comprehensive plans for commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, including a joint session of Congress to be held on January 29, 1982. Provides that the expenses of such committee shall not exceed a specified amount to be paid from the contingent fund of the House of Representatives. Directs that upon termination of the committee one-half of its expenses shall be paid by transfer from the contingent fund of the Senate to the contingent fund of the House of Representatives. Provides that such committee shall terminate not later than April 30, 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1981
Reformulates the reimbursement by the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to a State for the cost incurred in providing medical facility care in State homes to veterans eligible for such care in Veterans' Administration facilities. Establishes the per diem rate of payment at 30 percent of the average cost of such care at a Veterans' Administration facility, not to exceed 50 percent of the cost of such care in the State home.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1981
State and Local Government Financing Reform Act of 1981 - Excludes from the Federal law limiting and restricting the corporate powers of national banking associations to deal in and underwrite investment securities, specified dealings in and underwriting of all other nongeneral obligations issued or guaranteed by or on behalf of a State or any political subdivision thereof (except special assessment obligations and industrial revenue bonds) which are at the time eligible for purchase by a national bank for its own account, subject to specified limitations. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to submit an annual report to the Congress showing the extent to which the business of underwriting and dealing in State and local obligations is being carried on by commercial banks as compared with other banking institutions with a view to determining the effect of the provisions of this Act on the institutional distribution of such business.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1981
Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide, through demonstration projects payments to eligible individuals who do not require 24-hour nursing care and who desire to establish a medical, noninstitutional living arrangement: (1) post-hospital extended care services under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act; or (2) intermediate care facility services or skilled nursing facility services under title XIX (Medicaid) of such Act. Requires payments received to be used to finance appropriate medical, noninstitutional living arrangements. Provides that such payments shall not be includable in gross income under the Internal Revenue Code. Requires the Secretary to design the demonstration projects to determine: (1) the feasibility of transferring inpatients of skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities to noninstitutional living arrangements; (2) the types and percentage of such inpatients who could live effectively in a noninstitutional living arrangement; and (3) the types and percentages of such inpatients who would benefit economically and qualitatively from a noninstitutional living arrangement. Directs that funds for such payments be made from the Federal Hospital Insurance Fund established under the Social Security Act and from funds appropriated for Medicaid.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals under age 55 to elect the one-time exclusion of gain from the sale or exchange of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1981
Title I: Transfers of Powers - Declares it to be the policy of the United States: (1) to comply with the sovereign rights of the people of Puerto Rico to decide their political status; (2) to recognize that Puerto Rico constitutes a full-fledged Latin American nation; and (3) that all of the Government's powers and authority over Puerto Rico should be relinquished and transferred to the people of Puerto Rico. Directs the President, 90 days after approval of this Act, to proclaim the intention to withdraw and surrender all rights of possession, supervision, jurisdiction, and control of sovereignty exercised by the United States over Puerto Rico upon the convening of a constituent assembly of the people of Puerto Rico. Title II: The Constituent Assembly - Authorizes an organizing committee to convene a sovereign constituent assembly of the people of Puerto Rico and to transfer to it all the powers currently entrusted to the Puerto Rican government and all powers pertaining to Puerto Rico exercised by the U.S. Government. Title III: The Negotiating Commission - Requires the President to appoint one member and the Constituent Assembly of Puerto Rico to appoint five members to form a commission to negotiate any specific conditions or terms of relations between Puerto Rico and the United States. Directs the United States and Puerto Rico to submit any controversy which cannot be resolved by the negotiating commission to the International Court of Justice of the United Nations for final decision. Title IV: Transition - Declares that the functions of the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Federal Government shall be administered as customary until the moment that the constituent assembly proclaims the establishment of a permanent body politic in Puerto Rico. Authorizes the assembly to institute transitory measures before such moment in crucial areas. Requires all Government funds already appropriated to Puerto Rico, as well as corresponding funds during the transitory period not exceeding five years, to be put in trust for Puerto Rico in the World Bank or another international banking organization to be utilized as directed by the constituent assembly in consultation with the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Maintains all rights and benefits acknowledged to Puerto Rican citizens who are U.S. veterans, retired Federal employees, or social security recipients, regardless of the political status of Puerto Rico.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1981
Hunger and Global Security Act - Title I: Public Law 480 - Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to require the President to consider the extent to which a developing country is using self-help measures to reduce illiteracy among young farmers and to improve the health of farmers and their families before the President can enter an agreement for the sale of agricultural commodities for foreign currencies and long-term-dollar credit with such country. Requires that the economic development and self-help measures the recipient country agrees to undertake be sufficiently described so that the primary beneficiaries will be needy people with incomes below the level required to prevent malnutrition. Requires such economic development and self-help measures to be in addition to the measures the recipient country had otherwise been planning to take. Directs the President to verify that such measures are being carried out and to report to the appropriate Congressional committees on such verification and on the additional nature of such measures. Title II: Multilateral Development Banks - Amends the Federal provisions for aiding international financial institutions to require the United States to work within certain multilateral development banks to establish a requirement that not less than 50 percent of such bank's lending benefit needy people. Requires the Secretaries of State and of the Treasury to report to Congress annually on establishing such requirement. Title III: World Food Security - Directs the President to encourage other grain exporting countries to establish food security reserves or take other measures that complement the U.S. food security reserve. Directs the President to report to Congress on actions taken with respect to such food security reserves. Directs the President to negotiate the establishment of a global food financing facility and ensure that the benefits of such facility meet basic human needs. Directs the President to report to Congress on the actions taken to implement such facility. Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to prohibit the Secretary of Commerce from imposing export controls on food if it is determined that such controls would cause measurable malnutrition in the countries against whom the controls are proposed unless the President determines such controls are necessary to protect U.S. national security. Title IV: Generalized System of Preferences - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to prohibit the President from designating as a beneficiary developing country any country that fails to give priority to alleviating malnutrition and poor health and enabling the poor to participate actively in increasing economic productivity, unless the President determines that such designation is required by U.S. national security interests and so reports to Congress. Directs the President to review the possibility of increasing the benefits available to the poorest beneficiary developing countries under such Act's Generalized System of Preferences. Title V: American International Public Health Fund - Establishes within the Agency for International Development (AID) an American International Public Health Fund to provide financial assistance to private and voluntary organizations to support specified public health activities in developing countries. Limits the Fund's financial assistance with respect to the administrative activities of such organizations. Specifies factors to be considered in allocating the Fund's resources. Authorizes the Fund to carry out all AID programs assisting private and voluntary organizations. Directs the Administrator of AID to establish a Board for International Public Health which shall: (1) participate in project proposal review; (2) review documents that detail the terms under which the Fund provides financial assistance to private and voluntary organizations; (3) review the impact of activities supported by the Fund; (4) recommend the allocation of funds; and (5) participate in preparing the annual report. Requires the Director of the Fund to report annually to Congress and the President on the Fund. Authorizes appropriations for such Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1981
Declares that high level officials of South Africa should not be invited to visit the United States until South Africa abandons its policy of apartheid and commits itself to granting social justice and participation in the political process to all South Africans.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1981
Consumer Fraud Act of 1981 - Defines "unfair consumer practice" to include: (1) offering or advertising goods or services for sale to a consumer and not selling them as so offered; or (2) making false or misleading statements with respect to goods or services which are offered for sale to a consumer. Permits a consumer to void any contract or agreement in commerce which provides for the purchase of goods or services and results from a transaction involving an unfair consumer practice. Makes any person who induces a consumer into such contracts or agreements liable to such consumer for treble damages and legal costs. Authorizes State attorneys general to bring civil actions in Federal or State courts, as parens patriae for consumer residents, to secure treble damages and legal costs for unfair consumer practices, with monetary relief to be distributed among consumers or deposited with the State. Authorizes the U.S. Attorney General or any State attorney general to bring an action to enjoin an unfair consumer practice. Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for whoever uses an instrumentality of commerce to willfully or negligently engage in an unfair consumer practice.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1981
Calls upon the President to: (1) demand that El Salvador thoroughly investigate the December, 1980, murders of four U.S. missionaries; (2) instruct, in light of allegations that Salvadorans residing in the United States were involved in those murders, the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assume a more directive role in the investigation and employ all other available U.S. resources in that investigation; (3) report on the investigation to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on at least a biweekly basis; (4) demand that El Salvador begin investigating the murders of two U.S. labor representatives, and the disappearance of a U.S. journalist; and (5) warn El Salvador that, if these investigations are not satisfactorily resolved, the United States will consider terminating U.S. assistance to El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
International Claims Settlement Act Amendments of 1981 - Amends the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 to permit the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission to determine the claims against East Germany of persons who were aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States as of the date of their property loss and who were citizens of the United States by a specified date (currently only persons who were U.S. nationals as of the date of the loss may receive such a determination).
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
Water Pricing Reform Act of 1981 - Directs that any water delivery contract entered into by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the Reclamation Act shall require the repayment of costs of such delivery by the contractor at a rate at least equal to the costs incurred by the government. Requires contracts involving a project authorized by the Congress after enactment of this Act, or any project for which no contract has yet been executed, to provide for the recovery of costs at a rate determined by the Secretary, including: (1) all construction costs allocable to irrigation; (2) all operation and maintenance costs; and (3) interest on such charges. Authorizes the Secretary to establish higher rates for the recovery of costs to encourage conservation of water resources. Requires the Secretary to recalculate such rates each year and to modify each contract to reflect the cost alterations. Prohibits the duration of any water service contract entered into after enactment of this Act to be greater than ten years. Amends the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to provide that repayment obligations of organizations contracting with the Secretary be fixed to achieve timely repayment of costs consistent with the annual payment capacity of such organization. Prohibits any such contract, subsequent to enactment of this Act, to be reduced on the basis of the contractor's ability to pay. Prohibits water sold under any contract with the Secretary to be resold without the written permission of the Secretary. Directs the Secretary in reviewing applications for such resales, to establish resale prices to prevent speculation by contractors. Authorizes the Secretary to require payment of a reasonable fee by the seller to cover administrative expenses, or such other purpose the Secretary may deem reasonable. Provides a procedure for public participation for any contract whose duration is longer than six months, prior to approval of the Secretary. Requires the submission to the Congress for approval of any contract involving the sale or delivery of more than 50,000 acre-feet.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
Ride-Sharing Tax Incentives Act of 1981 - Title I: Individual Income Tax Credits for Purchase of Commuter Highway Vehicles - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers an income tax credit equal to 15 percent of the cost of acquiring a qualified commuter highway vehicle. Specifies that such vehicle must seat at least eight adults (excluding the driver) and must be usable for at least 176 days during certain periods of time for transporting individuals from their homes to work. Requires a minimum three-year use of such vehicle under penalty of recapture of credit amounts in the year of any cessation of such use or other disposition of the vehicle. Terminates the credit for vehicles acquired after 1985. Title II: Payments for Public Transportation Excluded from Gross Income - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee amounts paid or reimbursed by the employer for the cost of commuting to and from work on public transportation. Excludes from gross income any services provided or amounts contributed by an employer in connection with a ride-sharing program that assists employees in locating and starting car pools. Excludes from the gross income of the car pool driver any compensation received by the riders in the car pool. Title III: Amendments Relating to Investment Tax Credit for Commuter Highway Vehicles - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a 20 percent investment tax credit for commuter highway vehicles. Revises the use requirements for such vehicles for purposes of qualifying for the investment tax credit. Title IV: Income Tax Credit for Employers Who Have Qualified Ride-Sharing Programs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a nonrefundable income tax credit for administrative expenses incurred in connection with the operation of a ride-sharing commuter program for employees. Determines the amount of such credit by multiplying the average number of such employees during the taxable year by a specified amount keyed to the percentage of participating employees. Terminates such credit after 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
Disapproves the proposed deferral of budget authority (deferral no. D81-36A) for the programs authorized by the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, as transmitted by the President to the Congress on March 11, 1981, pursuant to the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Select Commission on Voluntary Service Opportunities Act of 1981 - Establishes the Select Commission on Voluntary Service Opportunities to examine: (1) the effectiveness of existing voluntary service opportunities in the public and private sectors; (2) alternative types of national service programs; (3) the impact of potential changes in incentives for service; and (4) the feasibility of incorporating existing and alternative service programs into a comprehensive national service program. Directs the Commission to transmit a final report, with any recommendations for legislative or administrative actions, to the President and to each House of the Congress not later than 15 months after its first meeting. Directs each affected Executive department and agency to submit recommendations to the President for implementing such report. Directs the President to report to each House of Congress on the implementation of the Commission's recommendations. Terminates the Commission 180 days after its final report is transmitted. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Amends the highway safety programs uniform standards to include: (1) comprehensive alcohol-traffic safety programs; and (2) penalties to deter motorists from driving while under the influence of alcohol.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Nuclear Powerplant Property Damage Insurance Act of 1981 - Establishes the National Nuclear Property Insurance Corporation. Sets forth the membership and powers of the Corporation. Exempts the Corporation and its assets, except for its real property and tangible personal property other than cash and securities, from Federal, State, and local taxation. Establishes in the Treasury a Nuclear Property Insurance Fund to be used by the Corporation. Authorizes the Corporation to request investments of excess moneys in the Fund and to issue obligations to cover specified costs. Authorizes the Corporation to provide insurance to licensees of nuclear powerplants to supplement insurance available from private sources. Requires that the Corporation pay for cleanup and rehabilitation costs associated with onsite property damage following any nuclear incident or damage to an insured powerplant to the extent such costs exceed the greater of two specified amounts. Sets a ceiling on such insurance payments. Prohibits the issuance of an operating license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a nuclear powerplant unless the licensee is insured by the Corporation. Permits the Corporation to require proof of loss or damage before paying any insurance claim. Directs the Corporation to prescribe insurance premium rates and coverage schedules to provide sufficient revenue to the Fund. Sets a minimum aggregate amount of premiums to be paid by all licensees insured under this Act. Requires the Corporation to maintain an actuarially sound reserve comprised of such premiums in the Fund. Requires insured licensees to pay additional assessments if the Corporation becomes obligated under any insurance agreement for any claim in excess of the amount in the Fund. Establishes a Federal interagency task force to: (1) foster and expedite effective communications among the Federal agencies involved with Three Mile Island Unit 2; and (2) insure preparation of a contingency plan to protect public health and safety and maintain service continuity if the General Public Utilities Corporation cannot carry out its responsibilities in connection with Three Mile Island Unit 2. Directs the Corporation to reimburse the General Public Utilities Corporation from the Fund for 75 percent of the uninsured costs incurred by such Corporation after enactment of this Act for cleanup associated with onsite property damage at Three Mile Island Unit 2 if: (1) there is a joint Pennsylvania-New Jersey Utility Commission plan to insure service continuity and economic stability for the General Public Utilities Corporation; and (2) the General Public Utilities Corporation agrees to pay a premium surcharge to recover 50 percent of the Corporation's costs. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to: (1) provide technical assistance to the NRC to expedite licensing and regulatory procedures for the cleanup and repair of Three Mile Island facilities; (2) provide technical and planning assistance to the joint Pennsylvania-New Jersey Utility Commission plan; and (3) arrange with the General Public Utilities Corporation to use data valuable in understanding and enhancing nuclear reactor safety. Subrogates the Corporation to all rights and claims of an insured licensee against a third party for costs for which the Corporation provides insurance coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 to permit a recipient of Federal financial assistance under such Act to submit a program to the Secretary of Transportation with regard to the transportation of handicapped persons. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, to approve, subject to specified criteria, such programs. Requires the recipient of such Federal financial assistance to consult with the community of handicapped persons for whom such transportation will be provided. Requires that such program be developed in cooperation with the responsible local elected officials. Directs the Secretary to withhold not less than 25 percent of a recipient's Federal funding under this Act if such recipient does not comply with its program or the requirements of this Act. Requires each recipient to certify annually that it is complying with such program. Exempts specified fixed rail systems from the provisions of this Act. Directs the appropriate Congressional committees to conduct periodic oversight hearings on the effect of this Act no less than annually for the first five years after the date of enactment of this Act. Defines "handicapped individual" for the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Maternal and Infant Health Services Act of 1981 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, State maternal and child health agencies for the establishment of statewide perinatal systems plans for the coordinated delivery of existing maternal and infant health services in the States. Requires an application for a grant or cooperative agreement to provide for the development of a statewide perinatal systems plan which, among other things: (1) is a part of the State plan under title V; (2) includes a statement of goals and objectives for coordinating title V and XIX (Medicaid) of the Act; (3) provides for the designation of a regional advisory board in each health service area incorporating a high infant mortality area; and (4) includes performance standards with respect to the improvement of the health of mothers and infants. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, State maternal and child health agencies for projects to implement the statewide perinatal systems plan. Requires an application for such a grant or cooperative agreement, in order to be approved, to: (1) provide for the coordination of services under titles V and XIX; (2) provide for the designation of regional advisory boards; (3) provide for the development of a case management system; and (4) provide for the furnishing of perinatal services identified as needed through the case management system. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress. Requires a State Medicaid plan to make medical assistance available for care and services provided during pregnancy and 120 days following the termination of a pregnancy to a women (and any child born as a result of such pregnancy) if her income and resources meet certain standards.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Saturday Mail Delivery Act of 1981 - Requires the Postal Service to maintain the frequency of mail delivery service in effect on March 5, 1981 (six days each week).
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers who maintain a household which includes a dependent who has attained age 65 an income tax credit for the expenses of maintaining such household. Requires that such household constitute the principal residence of the aged dependent for more than three quarters of the taxable year. Limits the amount of the credit to $1,000 for each aged dependent. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report to the Congress on the administrative problems and revenue cost of the credit enacted by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange Act - Establishes a presumption of service-connected disability for veterans exposed to herbicides during service who suffer from a disease which may be caused by exposure to such herbicides, developed to a ten percent degree of disability. Requires the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to determine what diseases and birth defects may be due to exposure to herbicides. Qualifies such birth defects disabling to a degree of ten percent as an aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered in the line of duty in the active military service during a period of war. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations within one year of enactment incorporating such determinations and setting forth the conditions of service during the Vietnam era required to establish exposure.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat amounts allowed as deductions for research and experimental expenditures attributable to activities conducted in the United States as allocable to income from sources within the United States and deductible from such income.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1981
Child and Family Development Act - Declares that the Congress affirms the right and responsibility of parents to participate in programs involving their children and that nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize any public agency or private organization or its representative to intervene in any child-rearing decision of the parents. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a complete study and assessment of child care needs in the United States. Directs the Secretary to take specified factors into consideration and to complete such study and assessment, and transmit the results to the Congress, within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to prepare and promulgate a comprehensive plan and program to provide services to meet the Nation's child care needs (including day care, education, health, and nutrition). Sets forth required provisions for the plan and program. Directs the Secretary to promptly transmit the plan and program, with recommendations, to the Congress. Requires that a specified minimum period of time after transmittal to the Congress pass before the plan or program or later modifications by the Secretary become effective. Sets forth priorities in the distribution of child care funds by the plan and program. Prohibits the plan and program from affecting levels or sources of funding for the Head Start program and specified programs under the Social Security Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Requires that such plan and program provide for strengthened developmental programming for children and parent education and required certification of teachers under such Acts. Requires that the plan and program include: (1) provision of additional Federal funds to improve child care programs; and (2) incentives for development of improved child care facilities. Sets forth administrative provisions and requirements for State plans for the administration of child care programs. Directs the Secretary to submit an annual report, with recommendations, to the Congress on the administration and operation of this Act and of the plan and program. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1981
Amends part B (Professional Standards Review) of title XI of the Social Security Act to provide that a Professional Standards Review Organization shall not be considered to be an agency of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Inventory Simplification and Reform Tax Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the qualification requirement for the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method of accounting that a taxpayer use no inventory method for financial reporting or credit purposes other than the LIFO method. Allows a taxpayer who adopts the LIFO method to spread increases in taxable income attributable to such change over a ten-year period. Allows an election by small businesses which use the dollar method of pricing inventories under the LIFO method and which have average annual receipts of $5,000,000 or less for the three taxable years ending with the year of election to use one inventory pool for any trade or business. Permits a wholesaler or retailer who uses such method to elect the use of inventory pools based on the applicable Government price index categories for all items of inventory. Allows the use of such index categories in the pricing of inventories under such dollar-value methods. Allows an election to use a link chain or index method to compute the LIFO value of dollar-value pool without regard to suitability or practicality of any other method. Repeals the requirement, with respect to liquidation plans adopted after December 31, 1981, that a corporation inventorying goods under the LIFO method treat the LIFO recapture amount with respect to distributed inventory assets as gain from the sale of such assets. Allows an election by small businesses which are at least half-owned by active participants in the trade or business and which have average annual gross receipts of $1,500,000 or less for the three taxable years ending with the year of election to use the cash receipts and disbursements method of accounting without regard to any inventory requirements. Permits a taxpayer to reduce the value of a portion of excess inventory items held for more than 12 months. Sets forth a schedule for such reductions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Rehabilitation and Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit for ten percent of the expenditures for the rehabilitation of a certified historic structure. Increases from ten percent to 25 percent the investment tax credit percentage for rehabilitation expenditures in connection with certified historic structures. Qualifies specified rehabilitated multifamily residential rental properties for the investment tax credit.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an income tax deduction from gross income for adoption agency fees, court costs, attorney's fees, and other necessary expenses incurred in the adoption of a child.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Federal Reserve Act Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to require not less than three members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to come from the agricultural sector, the industrial sector, the commercial sector, or financial institutions with assets of less than $150,000,000.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Directs the Comptroller General to audit, each fiscal year, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Advisory Council, the Federal Open Market Committee, and all Federal Reserve banks and their branches. Requires the Comptroller General, within six months after the end of each fiscal year, to make a report to the Congress on the results of such audit.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that the duty to bargain collectively includes bargaining with respect to retirement benefits for retired employees.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that taxpayers who incur expenses for the care of a dependent child who is mentally or physically handicapped shall be eligible for the child care credit whether or not the taxpayer incurred such expenses to enable him to seek gainful employment or such expenses were incurred outside his household. Increases the amount of expenses which may be considered in determining the amount of the credit. Provides that the earned income limitation shall not apply to taxpayers who provide care for handicapped children. Grants tax-exempt status to a trust established for the care of a physically or mentally handicapped child of the taxpayer. Allows an income tax deduction for contributions to a child care trust. Limits the amount of such deduction for contributions to a child care trust. Limits the amount of such deduction to the lesser of 15 percent of the taxpayer's compensation includable in gross income for the taxable year, or $1,500. Provides that distributions from such a trust shall not be taken into consideration in determining the eligibility of such child for Federal or State assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Expresses the grave concern of the House of Representatives at the repression of the Guatemalan people by the Guatemalan Government. Calls upon the President to: (1) recall the U.S. representative; (2) order continued application to Guatemala of statutes limiting access to bilateral and multilateral aid to gross violators of human rights; (3) prohibit the granting of any Export-Import Bank credits or loan guarantees or the granting of export licenses; (4) instruct U.S. Executive Directors on specified international agencies to vote against grants and loans to Guatemala and to urge other governments to implement similar policies within these institutions; (5) actively work within the Organization of American States and the United Nations to pressure the Guatemalan government to cease its violence against the Guatemalan people; and (6) demand that the regime cease its repression and restore to the police and security forces their proper peacekeeping role.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Declares that the President's decision to commit U.S. military personnel to El Salvador requires the President to submit to Congress a specified report required by the War Powers Resolution in order to preserve the integrity of such Resolution and to ensure the full and cooperative judgment of both Congress and the President with respect to the introduction of U.S. military personnel into El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to reduce the rate of tax on the taxable income of a corporation below $500,000. Reduces the income tax rate and the alternative tax on mutual insurance companies.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Authorizes appropriations in the amount of $1,500,000 to the city of Atlanta, Georgia, for law enforcement expenses with respect to the recent murders of children.
![Official portrait of Rep. Mitchell, Parren J. [D-MD-7]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000826_200.jpg)