United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Social Security Benefits Protection and Restoration Act of 1997 - Directs the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) study jointly and report to the Congress on the inability of the Social Security Administration to provide American workers with their full social security benefits because of insufficient information necessary to identify account earnings information correctly for such workers at the Administration; (2) take appropriate remedial measures, including devising and implementing a procedure for eliminating backlogged uncredited earnings filed with the Administration. Requires a progress report to the Congress on implementation of such measures, along with any recommendations for appropriate legislative action.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Requires the House of Representatives to participate in State and local government transit programs to encourage House employees to use public transportation. Directs the Committee on House Oversight to issue appropriate regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the formulae for payments to health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans. Provides for a metropolitan based system under which: (1) all portions of each metropolitan statistical area in a State are treated as a single Medicare payment area; and (2) all areas in that State that do not fall within a metropolitan statistical area are treated as a single Medicare payment area. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine the annual per capita rate of payment for each Medicare payment area by adjusting the adjusted capitation rate for: (1) individuals (not, as currently, a class of individuals) who are enrolled with an eligible organization which has entered into a risk-sharing contract and who are enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) only; and (2) such risk factors as age, disability status, gender, institutional status, and other appropriate factors so as to ensure actuarial equivalence. Requires the Secretary to establish a separate rate of payment to an eligible organization with respect to any individual determined to have end-stage renal disease and enrolled with the organization. Prescribes a general formula for the adjusted capitation rate of a Medicare payment area based on an area-specific adjusted capitation rate and an input-price-adjusted national adjusted capitation rate. Specifies area-specific and national percentages for contract years 1998 through 2001 and after. Requires the Secretary, upon written request of the Chief Executive Officer of a State for a contract year, to adjust the system under which Medicare payment areas in the State are otherwise determined to a system which: (1) has a single Statewide Medicare payment area; (2) is a metropolitan based system; or (3) consolidates into a single Medicare payment area noncontiguous counties (or equivalent areas) within the State.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a health insurance cost tax credit for certain employees without employer-provided coverage. Subjects such credit to employee compensation, adjusted gross income, and tax limits. Excludes long-term care insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that cost-of-living adjustments for Federal retirees should be paid beginning in January of each year, as current law prescribes, and should not be delayed, whether as part of a budget agreement or otherwise.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Rescinds congressional consent to the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact (entered into by Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a congressional gold medal to Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Demonstration Project Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a demonstration project to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement, under provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for health services provided to Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries who participate in the project and receive such services through the managed care option of the TRICARE program (a DOD managed health care program). Requires the project to be conducted during the three-year period beginning on January 1, 1998, in no more than five geographic regions designated by the Secretaries. Makes project enrollment voluntary. Requires the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE enrollment fee for project participants for whom Medicare reimbursement may be made. Requires inclusion in the project of a provision for expansion to incorporate health care services provided to such beneficiaries under the fee-for-services options of the TRICARE program if the Secretaries determine that such expansion is feasible and advisable. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) maintain the DOD health care efforts for Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries; (2) estimate the amount expended by DOD for FY 1997 for providing health care items and services to such beneficiaries; and (3) establish monthly targets for the number of such beneficiaries enrolled in the project necessary to meet DOD maintenance of health care efforts for such individuals. Limits to $65 million the annual payments to DOD for the project. Requires the Comptroller General, for each project year, to submit to the Secretaries and the Congress a report on the extent to which costs under the TRICARE program and the Medicare program have increased as a result of the project. Directs the Secretaries to modify the project at the end of each year to correct for any discrepancy between cost targets and actual spending under the project. Directs the Secretaries to submit to the Congress an interim and final report on various project aspects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends title XI of the Social Security Act (SSA) to repeal the criminal penalty added by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 for the fraudulent disposition of assets in order to obtain Medicaid benefits under SSA title XIX.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the retail tax on heavy (in excess of 33,000 pounds) trucks and trailers, to: (1) exempt tractors not suitable for such vehicles; (2) treat certain repairs or modifications as non-manufacture; and (3) provide for a specified tire tax credit.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 1997 - Amends the Small Business Act to require each participating Federal agency (the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Labor), the Office of Small Business Development Centers (Office) of the Small Business Administration, and representatives of an association representing a majority of small business development centers (SBDCs) to agree to a small business regulatory compliance assistance plan. Requires each participating agency to ensure the nonduplication of compliance assistance efforts. Requires the Office, with the agreement of the association, to develop and publish guidelines for the establishment by SBDCs or by consortia of SBDCs of a system of small business voluntary regulatory compliance (system), with specified guideline requirements. Outlines the assistance to be provided to participating small businesses. Requires annual reports from the Office to the President and the congressional small business committees concerning the assistance provided under this Act, the level of outreach to small businesses achieved by SBDCs and consortia, and recommendations for improvements in the regulation of small businesses participating in the system. Requires the Office to provide for an independent third-party evaluation of the system, to be submitted to the President and the small business committees. Provides funding to assist the Office and participating agencies in fostering, promoting, developing, and carrying out the system, including funds for the implementation and administration of worker safety and health compliance assistance plans and regulatory compliance assistance plans for fiscal years 1999 through 2003. Provides funds to each participating SBDC under a population-based funding formula. Exempts such funds from matching requirements. Prohibits the Office from providing any funds to an SBDC or consortia after September 30, 2000, unless such SBDC or consortia has been approved for funding under a certification requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
States that a prohibition on the concurrent award of veterans' disability compensation and military retired pay shall not apply to a person who has a service-connected disability if: (1) the person completed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; and (2) the disability was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty and is rated at not less than 70 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Truth in Budgeting Act - Prohibits (subject to the Line Item Veto Act of 1996) the receipts and disbursements of the Highway Trust Fund, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of the Federal budget as submitted by the President, the congressional budget, or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Exempts such trust funds from any general statutory budget outlays limitation. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the amount of interest that may be credited to such trust funds. Amends Federal transportation law to require the Secretary of Transportation to estimate annually: (1) what, but for this Act, would be at the close of the next fiscal year the amount of unfunded aviation authorizations; and (2) the net aviation receipts at the close of such year.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Diabetes Education and Supplies Amendments of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of diabetes outpatient self-management training services and blood-testing strips for individuals with diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends Federal law to exclude the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund from the Federal and congressional budgets, and exempt it from any general budget limitation imposed by statute on U.S. budget outlays and from certain orders issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permanently extend the exclusion from gross income of employer-provided educational assistance; and (2) restore the exclusion for such assistance on the graduate level.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Provides that any amount remaining unobligated in the Representational Allowance of any Member of the House of Representatives at the end of the session of Congress or other period for which the allowance is made available shall be returned to the Treasury to be used for deficit reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit a candidate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress from making aggregate expenditures, with respect to an election for such office, which exceed $300,000.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
IRA Savings Opportunity Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to retirement savings plans, to, among other things: (1) double income limitations; (2) permit a worker without an employer plan to contribute an additional $2,000 to a plan; and (3) allow a credit of 20 percent, subject to income limitations, for amounts which would otherwise be allowed as a qualified retirement deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Self-Employed Health Affordability Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the deduction allowed for health insurance costs for self-employed individuals from 30 to 100 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Education and Training Affordability Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual a deduction for the amount of qualified higher education expenses paid by the individual. Limits the amount allowed to $5,000 ($2,500 in case of a married individual filing separately). Provides for a limitation based on modified adjusted gross income and other limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1996
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the format of the 1996 Presidential debates should be modified so that Ross Perot can have an equal opportunity to participate.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
Amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to authorize the use of funds from the Fund for Rural America for grants to develop and apply precision agricultural technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996
Jackie Robinson Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of Jackie Robinson in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the breaking of the color barrier in major league baseball; and (2) distribute surcharge proceeds to the Jackie Robinson Foundation to enhance its education and youth leadership programs, and increase the availability of scholarships for economically disadvantaged youths.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1996
Farm Transportation Regulatory Relief Act - Declares that Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations relating to the transportation of agricultural production material as a hazardous material (pesticides, fertilizers, and fuels) shall not prohibit a State from providing an exception from such regulations for farmers and retailers providing not-for-hire intrastate transportation of agricultural production materials from a source of supply to a farm, from a farm to another farm, from a field to another field on a farm, or from the farm back to the source of supply.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the retail tax on heavy (in excess of 33,000 pounds) trucks and trailers to: (1) exempt tractors not suitable for such vehicles: (2) treat certain repairs or modifications as non-manufacture; and (3) provide for a specified tire tax credit.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act of 1996 - Amends Federal law to provide that any service as a Member of Congress of an individual convicted of a felony committed while a Member during the 105th Congress or later shall not be taken into account as creditable service for purposes of annuity or retirement provisions. Entitles such individual (or his or her beneficiary or estate, if applicable) to be paid so much of such individual's lump-sum credit as is attributable to such service. Prohibits: (1) the individual, while serving as a Member after the date of the conviction, from being eligible to participate in the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employee's Retirement System; and (2) interest from being computed on such lump-sum payment for the period after the conviction or commission of the violation, or after September 26, 1961, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Authorizes the President to award the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously to Theodore Roosevelt for his actions in the attack of San Juan Heights, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War on July 1, 1898.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1996
Amends the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 to postpone from August 1, 1996, to September 30, 1996, the date specified for the transfer of certain amounts to be available for drinking water State revolving funds.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1996
Urges the national broadcast television networks to renew their commitment to voluntarily reserving the first hour of prime-time broadcasting for programming suitable for American family members of all ages.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1996
Cattle Industry Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to advance the Fund for Rural America's initial funding date. (Sec. 3) Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 to prohibit noncompetitive practices relating to the price or terms of sale of livestock or meat and meat by-products. (Sec. 4) Amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to set forth domestic market reporting requirements for certain persons in the slaughter business. Defines "captive supply." (Sec. 5) Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 with regard to livestock and meat food products reporting requirements. (Sec. 6) Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 to prohibit retaliation by packers against livestock producers. Provides damages for producers suffering such retaliation. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an interagency working group to review whether Federal lending practices are contributing to market concentration in the livestock and dairy sectors. (Sec. 8) Directs the President to prepare a consolidation plan for the U.S. food inspection system. (Sec. 9) Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require a labeling system for U.S.-produced meat and meat food products. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary to collect and publicize information on bulk cheese spot transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1996
National Small Business Regulatory Relief Act of 1996 - Amends the Small Business Act to establish a Small Business Regulatory Relief Council. Directs the Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (participating agencies) to submit to the Council a five-year plan for the establishment and maintenance of a partnership with small business development centers (SBDCs) for a system of voluntary regulatory compliance (compliance). Outlines plan contents and requires such participating agencies to ensure the nonduplication of efforts in such regard. Requires the Council: (1) within 30 days after a participating agency submits a plan, to approve or modify such plan; (2) to establish guidelines for the implementation of each plan; and (3) to report annually to the President and the congressional small business committees on the types of assistance provided by SBDCs to small businesses participating in the system of compliance, as well as outreach efforts to inform small businesses of such opportunity. Requires each SBDC to: (1) submit annually to the Council a work plan for SBDCs to carry out the system of compliance; (2) report semiannually to the Council on assistance provided to small businesses by SBDCs under this Act; and (3) report annually to the Council on recommendations for improving the regulation of small businesses. Directs the Council to: (1) evaluate annually the system of compliance; (2) determine whether SBDCs are performing in accordance with their compliance work plans; and (3) provide for an independent evaluation of such system after three years of operation. Requires the participating agencies to set aside specified percentages of their annual funding for FY 1997 through 2001 for compliance assistance under this Act. Provides for the deposit of such funds into the National Regulatory Relief Fund, and for appropriate Fund distributions.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Equalization of Medicare Reimbursement Rates to Health Maintenance Organizations and Competitive Medical Plans Title II: Grants to Encourage Establishment of Community Rural Health Networks Title III: Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospitals and Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals Subtitle A: Rural Primary Care Hospital Program Subtitle B: Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals Title IV: Incentives for Health Professionals to Practice in Rural Areas Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps Subtitle B: Primary Care Services Furnished in Shortage Areas Title V: Classification of Rural Referral Centers Title VI: Promotion of Health Centers in Rural Regions Title VII: Medicare Payment Methodologies Title VIII: Antitrust Title IX: Financing Rural Health Improvement Act of 1996 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that this Act reflects the dedication of the late U.S. Representative Bill Emerson to ensuring health care access for all rural Americans. Title I: Equalization of Medicare Reimbursement Rates to Health Maintenance Organizations and Competitive Medical Plans - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise provisions for payments to health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and competitive medical plans (CMPs) for the stated purpose of equalizing Medicare reimbursement rates to HMOs and CMPs. Title II: Grants to Encourage Establishment of Community Rural Health Networks - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants over a three year period to eligible States for development of plans to increase access to health care services for residents of areas in the State that are designated as chronically underserved. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 202) Directs the HHS Secretary to make funds available to provide technical assistance and advice for certain entities seeking to establish or enhance a community rural health network in an underserved rural area. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 203) Directs the HHS Secretary to provide financial assistance (development grants) to eligible entities for the development and implementation of community rural health networks, giving priority to eligible entities in States with developed plans to increase the access of residents of chronically underserved areas to health care services. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 205) Ends Federal financing for the grant program for rural health transition under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 and a certain program for rural outreach grants. Title III: Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospitals and Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals - Subtitle A: Rural Primary Care Hospital Program - Replaces the Essential Access Community Hospital Program (EACH) under Medicare with the Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospital Program, while continuing payment to designated EACHs. Bases payment for inpatient and outpatient rural primary care hospital services on the reasonable costs of the hospital in providing such services. Lengthens from 72 to 96 hours the maximum period of permitted inpatient stay at a rural primary care hospital. Subtitle B: Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals - Provides for a new Medicare Rural Emergency Access Care Hospital program, detailing coverage and payment for services. Title IV: Incentives for Health Professionals to Practice in Rural Areas - Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude qualified National Health Service Corps scholarship payments and loan repayments from gross income. (Sec. 402) Requires the HHS Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the allocation of Corps members among shortage areas. (Sec. 403) Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to give special priority to applications by community rural health networks for the assignment of Corps personnel for providing health services in or to a health professional shortage area. Subtitle B: Primary Care Services Furnished in Shortage Areas - Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for an increase in the amount of additional Medicare payments for primary care services (currently, physicians' services) furnished in rural shortage areas, and for services that are furnished by a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse midwife that would be physicians' services if furnished by a physician. Extends such payment for former shortage areas. Requires carriers to report on services provided. Title V: Classification of Rural Referral Centers - Amends SSA title XVIII to prohibit denial of a rural referral center's request for reclassification on the basis of comparability of wages. Provides for the continuing treatment of previously designated rural referral centers. Title VI: Promotion of Health Centers in Rural Regions - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the HHS Secretary, in making grants in rural areas for new or expanded services for each fiscal year, to give priority to projects that would be located in a State, or county or region of a State, that is not already serviced by an existing community health center. Requires also the Secretary to give special consideration to projects which have entered into a collaborative agreement with a community hospital meeting certain requirements. Title VII: Medicare Payment Methodologies - Directs the HHS Secretary to establish a methodology for making payments under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for telemedicine services furnished on an emergency basis to rural residents. Title VIII: Antitrust - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, give special consideration to antitrust guidelines affecting physician and hospital networks located in rural areas during its ongoing review of such guidelines; and (2) the completion of the Commission's review be expedited to provide relief and clarification to physicians and hospitals working to develop alternative means of providing accessible, affordable, and quality health care services to all Americans, especially those living and working in rural areas. Title IX: Financing - Revises Medicare secondary payer requirements. Makes permanent the requirements for: (1) employer responses to fiscal intermediary or carrier inquiries about the coverage of an employee or employee's spouse under a group health plan of the employer; and (2) the prohibition against a large group health plan's taking into account that the employee or a dependent of the employee is entitled to Medicare or end stage renal disease benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1996
Census of Agriculture Act of 1996 - Amends Federal law to transfer to the Secretary of Agriculture authority to conduct the census of agriculture. Sets forth confidentiality provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1996
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit a candidate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress from making aggregate expenditures, with respect to an election for such office, which exceed $300,000.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1996
Condemns the rash of arson against African-American churches across the United States during the past 18 months. Pledges to take steps to assist law enforcement authorities in apprehending the persons responsible. Supports the bipartisan legislation introduced by Representatives Conyers and Hyde to facilitate the prosecution of, and increase penalties against, arsonists who target houses of worship. Encourages the people of the United States to work within their own communities to prevent arson against African-American houses of worship.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1996
Victims of Domestic Abuse Insurance Protection Act of 1996 - Prohibits insurers and group health plans from engaging, directly or indirectly, in specified discriminatory acts or practices on the basis that the applicant or insured, or any person employed by the applicant or insured or with whom the applicant or insured has a relationship or association, or a beneficiary or plan participant, is, has been, or may be the subject of domestic abuse. Sets forth limitations upon the use or transfer of information among insurers or group health plans with respect to such subjects. Requires the insurer or group health plan to furnish a written explanation of any adverse action taken on a claim or medical condition that the insurer has reason to know is abuse-related. Prescribes parameters within which a life insurer may decline to issue a life insurance policy on the life of an individual if the applicant or prospective policy owner is or would be the designated beneficiary, and if such applicant or prospective policy owner: (1) lacks an insurable interest in the insured; or (2) is known in police or court records to have committed an act of domestic abuse in relation to the individual. Prohibits subrogation of claims resulting from domestic abuse without the informed consent of the subject of domestic abuse. Mandates that: (1) an insurer develop protocols specifying how employees, agents, and brokers will pursue an insurance action that may affect the safety of a subject of domestic abuse involved with that action; and (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services promulgate standards for insurers to implement this Act if the National Association of Insurance Commissioners fails to adopt a Model Act that establishes standards to implement this Act. Prescribes guidelines for State and Federal enforcement of this Act, including a civil money penalty for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Revenue Provisions Subtitle A: Expanded Pension Coverage and Simplification Subtitle B: Expanded Individual Retirement Accounts to Increase Coverage and Portability Subtitle C: Other Expansions of Pension Portability Subtitle D: Conforming Amendments Title II: ERISA Provisions Subtitle A: Expanded Pension Coverage and Simplification Subtitle B: Portability Subtitle C: Enhanced Security Title III: Additional Retirement Participation and Payment Options for Federal Employees Title IV: Conforming Railroad Retirement Benefits with Social Security Retirement Savings and Security Act - Title I: Revenue Provisions - Subtitle A: Expanded Pension Coverage and Simplification - Chapter 1: The NEST and Other Coverage Expansion - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish national employee savings trusts (NESTS), 401 (k)-type plans, for employees of small employers. (Sec. 1102) Makes tax-exempt organizations and Indian governmental instrumentalities eligible section 401(k) pension plan employers. (Sec. 1103) Sets forth alternative methods for satisfying section 401(k) nondiscrimination tests. (Sec. 1104) Revises "highly compensated employee" provisions. (Sec. 1106) Repeals the limitation in the case of an employee with defined benefit and a defined contribution plans from the same employer. (Sec. 1107) Makes certain defined contribution plan provisions applicable to all permanently disabled employees. (Sec. 1108) Revises deferred payment provisions with respect to: (1) owner-employee contributions; (2) State and local plan trust requirements; and (3) certain disability payments to former police officers or fire fighters. Chapter 2: Simplification and Cost Savings - Sets forth a special compensation limitation rule with respect to governmental and multiemployer deferred payment plans. States that a governmental plan's eligibility shall not be affected by its excess benefit arrangement. (Sec. 1204) Provides special rules for treatment of governmental and tax-exempt organization deferred compensation plans. (Sec. 1206) Establishes a simplified method for annuity distribution taxation for certain employer plans. (Sec. 1207) Eliminates five-year income averaging for lump-sum distributions. (Sec. 1208) Reduces from 59.5 years old to 59 years old the age at which a recipient may receive certain retirement and annuity distributions penalty-free. (Sec. 1209) Provides a special rule for certain rural cooperative plan distributions. (Sec. 1211) Treats the social security retirement age as the uniform retirement age for purposes of pension plan non-discrimination requirements. (Sec. 1214) Eliminates partial termination rules with respect to multiemployer plans. (Sec. 1217) Increases the tax on prohibited transactions. Subtitle B: Expanded Individual Retirement Accounts to Increase Coverage and Portability - Chapter 1: Retirement Savings Incentives - Subchapter A: IRA Deduction - Increases individual retirement account (IRA) income limitations. Provides inflation adjustments for deductible amounts and income limitations. Subchapter B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs - Establishes nondeductible tax-free IRAs. Chapter 2: Distributions and Investments - Authorizes IRA distributions to be used without the additional ten-percent tax for first home purchases, higher education, financially devastating medical costs, and by the unemployed. (Sec. 1323) Sets forth provisions with respect to the use of IRA funds to purchase qualifying State prepaid tuition instruments. Chapter 3: Termination of Certain Provisions - Sets forth IRA-related termination provisions with respect to: (1) inflation adjustments; (2) contributions to special IRA accounts; (3) early withdrawal tax; and (4) increases in specified limitations. Subtitle C: Other Expansions of Pension Portability - Establishes alternative nondiscrimination rules for certain plans that provide for early participation. (Sec. 1402) Establishes special rules for certain veterans' reemployment rights, including provisions regarding: (1) contributions; (2) elective deferrals; (3) retroactive adjustments; (4) loan repayment suspensions; and (5) compensation. (Sec. 1403) Eliminates the special vesting rule for multiemployer plans. Subtitle D: Conforming Amendments - Makes specified conforming amendments. Title II: ERISA Provisions - Subtitle A: Expanded Pension Coverage and Simplification - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to establish reporting and fiduciary requirements relating to NESTs designed to ensure participation by low- and moderate-wage workers, who will be able to save up to $5,000 per year tax-deferred, plus receive employer contributions toward retirement). (Sec. 2002) Eliminates specified ERISA requirements relating to employee benefit plan descriptions and filing of summary plan descriptions and descriptions of material modifications to a plan. Requires filing of annual plan reports by plan administrators. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to request any documents relating to such plans. (Sec. 2003) Includes under ERISA purchases of qualified State prepaid tuition program instruments to which specified IRC provisions apply. Subtitle B: Portability - Directs the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to prescribe specified types of payment rules relating to missing participants for terminated multiemployer plans. (Sec. 2011) Allows the administrator of a plan not otherwise subject to ERISA plan termination insurance provisions to elect to transfer a missing participant's benefits to the PBGC upon plan termination. Requires such administrator to provide the PBGC with specified information. Directs the PBGC, if such a missing participant's benefits are transferred to it, to pay the appropriate amount to the participant or beneficiary. (Sec. 2012) Eliminates a special vesting rule for multiemployer plans. (Sec. 2013) Provides for treatment of certain loans during military service. Subtitle C: Enhanced Security - Increases the amounts of guarantees for multiemployer plan benefits. (Sec. 2022) Directs the Secretary of Labor, as chairman of the PBGC board, to transmit to the President and the Congress an annual reversion report providing information on plans from which residual assets were distributed to employers. (Sec. 2023) Sets forth a full funding limitation for multiemployer plans. Requires a valuation every three years in the case of multiemployer plans. (Sec. 2024) Increases the maximum civil penalty for certain prohibited transactions. (Sec. 2025) Revises provisions relating to substantial owner benefits to modify: (1) a phase-in of guarantee; and (2) allocation of assets. Pension Audit Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends ERISA to repeal certain provisions for limited scope audits. (Sec. 2033) Requires certain notifications by plan administrators and accountants regarding: (1) irregularities that may have occurred with respect to plans; and (2) termination of an accountant's engagement for auditing services. Sets forth civil penalties for failures to provide the Secretary of Labor with such notifications. (Sec. 2034) Prescribes additional requirements for qualified public accountants. (Sec. 2035) Revises certain fiduciary penalties. Modifies a prohibition of assignment or alienation. Changes from mandatory to discretionary: (1) the imposition and the amount of civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility; and (2) certain provisions relating to an applicable recovery amount. Title III: Additional Retirement Participation and Payment Options for Federal Employees - Requires the Executive Director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to prescribe regulations to allow Federal employees to be afforded a reasonable opportunity to make an election to make contributions under the Thrift Savings Plan on the date of commencing service or beginning on the earliest date thereafter that such an election becomes administratively feasible. (Sec. 3002) Provides for a deferred annuity for a surviving former spouse of a deceased former Federal employee who separated from the service with title to a deferred annuity if such individuals were married to one another prior to the date of separation. Provides for a surviving spouse to elect to receive a certain deferred annuity if a former employee dies after having separated from the service with title to a deferred annuity but before having established a valid claim for annuity. (Sec. 3003) Provides for the payment of a lump-sum credit for a former spouse of a Federal employee. Title IV: Conforming Railroad Retirement Benefits with Social Security - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (RRA) with respect to eligibility for and amount of a child's annuity. (Sec. 4002) Provides for entitlement to spousal annuities despite certain age requirements. Repeals the age requirement for divorced spouses, and provides for entitlement of the divorced spouse where the worker's annuity is not payable. (Sec. 4003) Provides for RRA benefits equivalent to those under the Social Security Act, with respect to: (1) amounts of continued payment to survivors of waived lump sum benefits; (2) lump sum death benefits; and (3) benefits with respect to service for which certain railroad retirement annuities are not payable.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1996
Federal Health Program Benefit Change Accountability Act - Amends Federal law to require that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) prepare an annual report concerning the health benefits program for Federal employees which shall describe any substantial changes in maximums, limitations, exclusions, or other definitions of benefits that it intends to propose for implementation in the upcoming contract year. Directs that OPM publish each report in the Federal Register and submit a copy of each such report to both Houses of the Congress as early in the year as possible.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1996
Temporary Emergency Livestock Drought Relief Act of 1996 - Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to provide temporary assistance for certain drought-affected livestock producers. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to obligate specified funds for 1996 livestock feed emergencies. Requires a report on the use of certain commodity reserves for livestock assistance.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pomeroy, Earl [D-ND-At Large]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000422_200.jpg)