United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2005
Fairness in Firearm Testing Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to make a video recording of the entire process of its examination and testing of an item for the purpose of determining whether the item is a firearm (and if so, the type of firearm) or ammunition. Bars the Bureau from editing or erasing any such recording. Directs the Bureau to make available a digital video disc that contains a copy of the recording: (1) at the request of a person who claims an ownership interest in such item; and (2) to a defendant in a criminal proceeding involving such item. Provides that an item which the Bureau has determined is a firearm or ammunition shall not be admissible as evidence unless: (1) the Bureau has complied with such requirement; or (2) such compliance has been waived in writing by the person against whom the item is offered as evidence.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2005
Online Freedom of Speech Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exclude communications over the Internet from the meaning of public communication subject to the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2005
Public Good IRA Rollover Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income distributions from individual retirement accounts for certain charitable purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend the increased exemption from the alternative minimum tax for individual taxpayers for two additional years; and (2) adjust for inflation such increased exemption amounts, the exemption amount for corporations, and the phaseout thresholds applicable to individual taxpayers with certain levels of alternative minimum taxable income.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Real Estate Investment Thrift Savings Act - Amends Federal law relating to the Federal Employees' Retirement System to provide for the establishment of a Real Estate Stock Investment Fund under the Thrift Savings Plan.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Simplify Tax Filing for Seniors Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make available a new Federal income tax Form 1040S (similar to Form 1040EZ) to individuals who have turned 65 as of the close of the taxable year. Allows the form to be used even if income includes: (1) social security benefits; (2) distributions from qualified retirement plans, annuities, or other such deferred payment arrangements; (3) interest and dividends; or (4) capital gains and losses.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-exempt charitable or educational organizations to make collegiate housing and infrastructure improvement grants to certain tax-exempt social clubs (e.g., college fraternities and sororities) so long as all of the active members of such clubs are full-time students at the college or university with which such clubs are associated. Defines "collegiate housing and infrastructure grants" to include grants to provide, improve, operate, or maintain collegiate housing.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Renewing the Dream Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow homebuilders and investors a general business tax credit for building or substantially rehabilitating residences for low and moderate-income individuals in certain areas, including a rural area, an Indian reservation, or an area of chronic economic distress. Sets forth rules for the calculation of such credit and its administration and allocation by the States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2005
Investment Tax Simplification Act of 2005 - Makes permanent the reduction in individual capital gains tax rates enacted by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the maximum capital gains tax rates for individuals and corporations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2005
Jessica Lunsford Act - Amends the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act to direct that State procedures include a process under which the State mails a nonforwardable verification form at least twice a year to the last known address of the person required to register as a sexually violent offender, to be returned within ten days after receipt, with failure to return the form within the period allowed punishable in the same manner as a failure to register. Requires a State prison officer, the court, or another responsible officer or official, if a person required to register is released from prison or placed on parole, supervised release, or probation, to: (1) notify the agency responsible for supervising the person that such person is required to register; and (2) provide that agency with the registration information relating to that person. Provides that a person required to register who has two or more convictions for failing to register or failing to keep such registration current shall, upon release from imprisonment, be required to wear a location-transmitting device (such as an anklet) at all times for not less than five years (ten years if the person is a sexually violent predator). Requires the State to frequently monitor the information transmitted. Sets forth provisions regarding compliance dates and loss of Federal funding for failure to implement this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2005
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to make full payment to each unit of general local government in which entitlement land is located pursuant to current Federal law relating to payment for such land. Instructs the Secretary, if funds are not appropriated in amounts required for the Secretary to make full payment to a local government entity as required above, to convey to that local entity Federal land with a fair market value equal to the deficiency in the payment within the geographic boundary of that local government, with the exception of: (1) a unit of the National Park System; (2) a National Wilderness Area; and (3) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Requires conveyances under this Act to be completed not more than 90 days after the Secretary receives written notification of the selection from the local government.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2005
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) a day should be established to bring awareness to the issue of missing persons; and (2) the people of the United States should support efforts to locate missing persons.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Firearm Commerce Modernization Act - Amends Federal firearms provisions to permit a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector to: (1) sell or deliver a firearm (currently, a rifle or shotgun) to a resident of a State other than a State in which the licensee's place of business is located or temporarily located if the transferee meets in person with the transferor to accomplish the transfer; and (2) conduct business temporarily at any gun show or event sponsored by any national, State, or local organization, or any affiliate devoted to the collection, competitive use, or other sporting use of firearms (currently, only at such a location in the State specified on the person's license). Provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to diminish the right of a licensee to conduct firearms transfers (currently, "curios or relics" firearms transfers) with another licensee away from the transferor's business premises.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop a multipurpose cadastre of Federal real property (an inventory of real property of the Federal Government developed through the collection of geographical and digital data depicting natural or man-made physical features, phenomena, and boundaries of the earth and any related information) to assist with Federal land management, resource conservation, and development of real property, including any Federal land which is no longer required to be owned by the Government. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cost-sharing agreements with States to include any non-Federal lands in a State in such cadastre. Limits the Federal share of any such agreement to 50 percent of the total cost to a State for the development of the cadastre of the non-Federal lands in the State. Requires the Secretary to submit a report on: (1) the existing real property inventories or any components of any cadastre currently authorized by law or conducted by the Department of the Interior; (2) the inventories and components that will be or will not be eliminated or consolidated into the multipurpose cadastre authorized by this Act; (3) the cost savings that will be achieved; and (4) recommendations for any legislation necessary to increase cost savings and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of replacing, eliminating, or consolidating real property inventories or any components of a cadastre currently authorized by law or conducted by the Department of the Interior.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Small Business Expensing Permanency Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the increased expensing allowance ($100,000) for depreciable business assets and related provisions pertaining to phaseout amounts, inflation adjustments, and the period for revocation of an election.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Government Neutrality in Contracting Act - Directs the head of any Federal agency that awards or obligates funds for any construction contract, or that awards grants, provides financial assistance, or enters into cooperative agreements for construction projects, to ensure that bid specifications, project agreements, or other controlling documents do not: (1) require or prohibit a bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor from entering into, or adhering to, agreements with a labor organization, with respect to that construction project or another related construction project; or (2) otherwise discriminate against such a party because it did or did not become a signatory or otherwise adhere to such an agreement. Allows exemptions to avert an imminent threat to public health or safety or to serve national security. Allows additional exemptions for certain projects. Directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement this Act with respect to the applicable Federal contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit any person or entity, in or affecting interstate commerce, from knowingly: (1) performing or attempting to perform human cloning; (2) participating in such an attempt; (3) shipping or receiving an embryo produced by human cloning or any product derived from such embryo; or (4) importing such an embryo or derived product. Sets forth criminal and civil penalties. Provides that nothing in this Act restricts areas of scientific research not specifically prohibited above, including research in the use of nuclear transfer or other cloning techniques to produce molecules, DNA, cells other than human embryos, tissues, organs, plants, or animals other than humans.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2005
Child Predator Act of 2005 - Amends the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act to: (1) expand the definition of "criminal offense against a victim who is a minor" to include every offense, whether Federal, State, local, tribal, foreign, or otherwise, that involves one or more of specified characteristics (such as kidnapping or sexual conduct), when committed against a minor; and (2) define "child predator" as a person who is convicted of such an offense that is sexual in nature, where the minor is age 13 or younger. Directs that State procedures require a child predator to: (1) report a change of residence within ten days; and (2) notify appropriate entities within that person's community, including schools, public housing, at least two media outlets, and law enforcement. Sets penalties of up to two years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, for violations. Requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to disclose to the public, on a free-access Internet site, all information collected regarding each child predator, including a recent photograph. Requires the site to: (1) include a feature under which a member of the public can specify an address and be provided with registration information of all such predators within a radius of that address, as well as other searching and sorting capabilities; and (2) display the information in a manner that clearly indicates that the person is a child predator, along with the statutory definition of that term.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2005
Cosmetology Tax Fairness and Compliance Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the tax credit for social security taxes paid for employee cash tips to employers of cosmetologists. Requires employers of cosmetologists to report income and tips of their cosmetologist employees and to provide income and tip information to self-employed cosmetologists to whom they pay more than $600 in the taxable year. Imposes similar reporting requirements upon individuals who rent chairs to cosmetologists. Requires such employers to provide their cosmetologist employees and self-employed cosmetologists with information on the tax and tip reporting obligations of employees and self-employed individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2005
District of Columbia Personal Protection Act - Amends specified law prohibiting the killing of wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia to declare that nothing in it or any other provision of law shall authorize or be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise not prohibited from possessing firearms under Federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by Federal law nor subject to the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms. Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 to repeal the definition of a machine gun as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons.) Redefines "machine gun" to include the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms; (2) prohibition on possession of handgun restricted pistol bullets; and (3) requirement that, under certain conditions, firearms in the possession of certain individuals must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked. Repeals the definition of restricted pistol bullet as any bullet designed for use in a pistol which, when fired from a pistol with a barrel of five inches or less in length, is capable of penetrating commercially available body armor with a penetration resistance equal to or greater than that of 18 layers of kevlar. Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm. Amends Federal law to eliminate criminal penalties for carrying a pistol whether loaded or unloaded in one's dwelling house, place of business, or on land possessed by such person. Amends the District of Columbia Code to extend to firearms generally (currently, only to pistols) the prohibition against carrying such a weapon either openly or concealed within the District without a license issued pursuant to D.C. law. Specifies exceptions to the prohibition against carrying concealed weapons in the District.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Government Labor Neutrality Act of 2005 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit Federal, State, and local governments from either requiring or prohibiting an agreement with a labor organization by an employer in the construction industry in connection with any construction, alteration, painting, or repair work. Applies such prohibition to Federal agencies or departments, agents acting on the Federal Government's behalf, recipients of Federal grants or financial assistance, persons who have entered into cooperative agreements with the Federal Government, and State or local governments.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Cool and Efficient Buildings Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a 20-year depreciation recovery period, calculated on a straight line basis, for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, or commercial refrigeration systems installed in nonresidential buildings.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Secure Access to Firearms Enhancement (SAFE) Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for reciprocity for the carrying of certain concealed firearms in different States by persons who are not prohibited by Federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm and who are: (1) carrying a valid State license or permit for carrying a concealed firearm; or (2) otherwise entitled to carry a concealed firearm in their State of residence.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Working Families Access to Justice Act of 2005 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require attorneys' fees to be awarded to the prevailing party in an administrative or court proceeding involving the National Labor Relations Board if such party is an employer or labor organization that, at the time of such adversary adjudication or civil action, had not more than 100 employees and not more than $7 million of net worth.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
No Net Loss of Private Land Act - Allows the the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, in the case of a State in which 25 percent or more of all land in the State is owned by the United States, to acquire an interest in a parcel of land consisting of 100 or more acres in the State on behalf of the United States only if all right, title, and interest of the United States in the surface estate of another parcel of land in that State is conveyed, the value of which is approximately equal in value to the land being acquired. Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary concerned) from dividing a parcel of land consisting of 100 or more acres into smaller parcels to avoid such requirements. Specifies exceptions. Allows the Secretary concerned to waive such requirements with respect to the acquisition of a particular parcel of land in a time of war or a national emergency when such acquisition is necessary as part of the U.S. response to the war or national emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to designate Heartland Expressway from Denver, Colorado, through Wyoming and Scottsbluff, Nebraska, to Rapid City, South Dakota, as a high priority corridor on the National Highway System.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2005
Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 - Requires the merger of the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund into the Deposit Insurance Fund. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) and the Federal Credit Union Act to: (1) increase the amount of deposit insurance coverage; (2) couple such increase with an inflation adjustment; (3) double the amount of deposit insurance for certain retirement accounts; and (4) increase the maxzimum amount of deposit insurance coverage for in-State municipal deposits. Amends the FDIA to replace assessment guidelines for achieving and maintaining a designated reserve ratio and for independent treatment of deposit insurance funds with a requirement that the Board of Directors of the FDIC set assessments as it determines appropriate, including a maximum base rate for assessments at one basis point for insured depository institutions in the lowest-risk category. Reduces from five years to three years the mandatory assessment recordkeeping period. Replaces the current 1.25 percent statutory reserve ratio used to recapitalize undercapitalized insurance funds with a reserve ratio range of 1.15 to 1.4 percent of estimated insured deposits, subject to specified factors and annual redetermination. Instructs the FDIC to establish a Deposit Insurance Fund Restoration Plan to ensure adequate reserves whenever the actual ratio in the DIF falls below the designated reserve ratio. Directs the FDIC to conduct a bi-annual survey on efforts by insured depository institutions to bring into the conventional finance system those "unbanked" individuals and families who have rarely, if ever, held a checking account, a savings account, or other type of transaction or check cashing account at an insured depository institution.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2005
Nonprofit Athletic Organization Protection Act of 2005 - Exempts a nonprofit athletic organization from liability for harm caused by an act or omission in the adoption of rules of play for sanctioned or approved athletic competitions or practices if: (1) the organization was acting within the scope of its duties; (2) the organization was properly licensed, certified, or authorized for the competition or practice; and (3) the harm was not caused by the organization's willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, or reckless misconduct. Makes exceptions where State law: (1) requires such an organization to adhere to risk management procedures, including mandatory training; (2) makes the organization liable for the acts or omissions of its employees, agents, and volunteers to the same extent as an employer is liable for its employees; and (3) makes a limitation of liability inapplicable if the civil action was brought by an officer of a State or local government. .
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2005
Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal judicial code to extend habeas corpus protections to persons who are subject to a court order authorizing or directing the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain the person's life. Deems persons having custody in such cases to encompass parties so authorized or directed. States that there shall be no requirement to produce the body of the incapacitated person at the hearing. Exempts from this Act those cases in which the incapacitated person indisputably executed a written advance directive while having capacity that clearly authorized the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or necessary medical treatment. Defines "incapacitated person" to mean an individual presently incapable of making relevant decisions concerning the provision, withholding, or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment under applicable State law.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Constitution Restoration Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit the U.S. Supreme Court and the Federal district courts from exercising jurisdiction over any matter in which relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State, or local government or an officer or agent of such government concerning that entity's, officer's, or agent's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government. Prohibits a court of the United States from relying upon any law, policy, or other action of a foreign state or international organization in interpreting and applying the Constitution, other than English constitutional and common law up to the time of adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Provides that any Federal court decision relating to an issue removed from Federal jurisdiction by this Act is not binding precedent on State courts. Provides that any Supreme Court justice or Federal court judge who exceeds the jurisdictional limitations of this Act shall be deemed to have committed an offense for which the justice or judge may be removed, and to have violated the standard of good behavior required of Article III judges by the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Union Member Information Enforcement Act - Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to direct the Secretary of Labor to: (1) investigate any written complaint of a member alleging that a labor organization has violated requirements to inform its members of their rights; and (2) without disclosing the identity of the complainant, bring a civil action for relief upon determining that such violation has occurred and has not been remedied.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Labor-Management Accountability Act - Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to authorize the Secretary of Labor, upon finding a violation of specified reporting and disclosure requirements (regarding constitution and bylaws, financial reports, securities, reports of the employer, and trusteeships), to require the person, labor organization, or employer responsible to pay a civil money penalty in an amount determined under a schedule that takes into account the nature of the violation involved, the existence of previous violations, and the responsible entity's revenues. Prohibits the Secretary from making any determination adverse to a person, labor organization, or employer until such person or entity has been given written notice and an opportunity to be heard. Specifies review procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish in the Treasury a World Trade Center Memorial Fund for the purpose of making grants to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation for the construction of a memorial at the former site of the World Trade Center in New York City; and (2) permit taxpayers to designate on their tax returns $1.00 ($2.00 for joint returns) of their tax liability to the World Trade Center Memorial Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
United Nations Oil-for-Food Accountability Act of 2005 - Requires the withholding of certain FY 2005 and 2006 U.S. contributions to the United Nations (UN) until the President certifies that the UN is cooperating in the investigation of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Union Members Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to require a labor organization to provide information on the Act to: (1) each new member within 90 days after the member has joined the labor organization; and (2) all members periodically in a manner which the Secretary of Labor determines will promote a fuller understanding of the member's rights and judicial remedies under the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
RU-486 Suspension and Review Act of 2005 - Deems the approved application for the drug mifepristone (marketed as Mifeprex, commonly known as RU-486, and used for the chemically induced termination of intrauterine pregnancy) to have been withdrawn. Deems the drug misoprostol to be misbranded under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) if it bears labeling providing that the drug may be used for the medical termination of intrauterine pregnancy. Directs the Comptroller General to review and report on the process by which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone. Provides for the reinstatement of the approved application for such drug if the report determines the approval to have been in accordance with FFDCA.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that if the Government of Japan continues to delay in meeting its obligations under the understanding reached with the United States on October 23, 2004, to resume beef imports from the United States, the U.S. Trade Representative should immediately impose retaliatory economic measures on Japan.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit: (1) Federal civilian and military retirees to pay Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and TRICARE supplemental premiums on a pretax basis (i.e., exclude premiums from gross income); and (2) a tax deduction (available to itemizers and nonitemizers) for TRICARE supplemental premiums or enrollment fees. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Secretary of Defense to ensure that the option of paying FEHBP and TRICARE supplemental premiums on a pretax basis is available to Federal civilian and military retirees for the first open enrollment period beginning not less than 90 days after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2005
Senior Citizens' Tax Relief Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the 85 percent maximum tax rate on Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits enacted by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Appropriates, from the general fund, to the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund amounts equal to the reduction in revenues resulting from this repeal.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2005
English Language Unity Act of 2005 - Declares English to be the official language of the United States. Establishes the affirmative obligation of the representatives of the Federal Government to preserve and enhance the role of the English language as the Government's official language. Requires the official functions of the Government to be conducted in English. Requires: (1) a uniform English language testing standard for U.S. naturalization; and (2) all naturalization ceremonies to be conducted in English. Sets forth exceptions to, and rules of construction for, such requirements. Authorizes persons injured by violations of this Act to obtain appropriate relief in civil actions. Declares, as a general rule of construction, that English language requirements and workplace policies, whether in the public or private sector, shall be presumptively consistent with the laws of the United States. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue for public notice and comment a proposed rule for uniform testing of the English language ability of candidates for naturalization based upon the principles that: (1) all citizens should be able to read and understand generally the English language text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Laws of the United States; and (2) any exceptions to this standard should be limited to extraordinary circumstances, such as asylum.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare recognition of the services of respiratory therapists that are furnished as part-time or intermittent nursing care or physical therapy services under a plan of care for home health services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to Congress on the impact of paying for the services of respiratory therapists as a separate benefit under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of Medicare, and as an explicit component of the several benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of Medicare.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Trail Responsibility and Accountability for the Improvement of Lands Act or TRAIL Act - Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the National Park Service Organic Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, and other federal law to provide that: (1) any person who knowingly violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of such an Act or any regulation issued under such an Act concerning the management, use, and protection of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, National Park System lands, National Wildlife Refuge lands, and National Forest lands shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, subject to fine and/or imprisonment as provided under federal criminal law; and (2) any person who otherwise violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of such an Act or any regulation issued under such an Act concerning the management, use, and protection of such lands shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor, subject to fine and/or imprisonment as provided under federal criminal law. Permits requiring persons adjudged guilty of a: (1) Class B misdemeanor on BLM or National Park System lands to pay all costs of the proceedings; and (2) a Class A or Class B misdemeanor on National Wildlife Refuge or National Forest lands to pay all costs of the proceedings. Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the National Park Service Organic Act, and other federal law to set a minimum fine of $500 for certain fire usage violations on BLM, National Park System, and National Forest lands.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Secret Ballot Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to make it an unfair labor practice for: (1) an employer to recognize or bargain collectively with a labor organization that has not been selected by a majority of the employees in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board; and (2) a labor organization to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain collectively with a representative that has not been selected in such manner.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Broad-Based Stock Option Plan Transparency Act - Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require companies to include within certain mandatory reports details regarding stock option plans, stock purchase plans, and other arrangements involving employee acquisition of an equity interest in the company, including: (1) a discussion of the dilutive effect of stock option plans (written in accordance with the Plain English Handbook published by the Office of Investor Education and Assistance of the Commission); (2) expanded disclosure of the dilutive effect of employee stock options on the company's earnings per share number; (3) prominent placement and increased comparability of all stock option related information; and (4) a summary of stock options granted to the five most highly compensated executive officers, including outstanding stock options of those officers. Directs the SEC to examine and report to specified congressional committees on the effectiveness of the enhanced disclosures required by this Act in increasing transparency to current and potential investors. Prohibits the Commission, between enactment of this Act and submission of such report, from recognizing as generally accepted accounting principles any new accounting standards regarding the treatment of stock options. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to analyze and report to specified congressional committees on broad-based employee stock option plans, particularly in the high technology and any other high growth industries.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the outpatient therapy cap.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Long-Term Care Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income distributions from an individual retirement account and other tax-exempt retirement plans used to pay long-term care insurance premiums.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the 15-year recovery period for purposes of the tax deduction for depreciation of qualified restaurant property. Revises the term "qualified restaurant property" to include existing buildings as well as improvements to buildings.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005 - Declares that the sunset provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which terminate its application to estates of decedents dying, gifts made, or generation skipping transfers, after December 31, 2010, shall not in fact apply to title V of such Act, which repeals estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. (Thus makes the repeal of such taxes permanent.)
![Official portrait of Rep. Musgrave, Marilyn N. [R-CO-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m001152_200.jpg)