United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Department of Energy Foreign Visitors Program Moratorium Act of 1999 - Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from admitting to any Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory facility any individual who is a citizen of a country named on the current DOE sensitive countries list. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such prohibition on a case-by-case basis when considered necessary for national security, but requires prior notification to the congressional defense committees, followed by a ten-day waiting period . Directs the Secretary to establish a counterintelligence program at each of the national laboratories which shall include a plan to investigate any prior breaches of security discovered after the date of enactment of this Act. Requires background checks on all foreign citizens before entry into a national laboratory. Requires the Secretary to report to the defense committees on the status of counterintelligence activities at each national laboratory.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
George Washington, Bicentennial Act of 1999 - Requires that the legal public holiday known as Washington's Birthday be referred to by that name and no other: (1) by all U.S. Government entities and officials; and (2) whenever it appears in any federally funded publications.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to increase the mandatory minimum penalties for possessing, brandishing, or discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
IRA Charitable Rollover Incentive Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from inclusion as income individual retirement account distributions used for qualified charitable purposes. Sets forth related rules for charitable remainder trusts, pooled income funds, and charitable gift annuities.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Small Savers Retirement Enhancement Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $2,000 to $5,000 the annual limits on an individual's contributions to his or her individual retirement account (IRA). Mandates annual indexing of the $2,000 deductible portion of such contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Right-To-Know National Payroll Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require that each employer show on the W-2 form of each employee the employer's share of taxes for old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) and for hospital insurance (Medicare) for the employee, as well as the total amount of such taxes for such employee. Requires a W-2 also to show any tier 1 railroad retirement tax with respect to OASDI and Medicare the employer has paid.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Federal Employee Right to Know Payroll Act - Requires each Federal agency, after December 31, 2000, to include on each paycheck to an employee, information on: (1) the total amount of excise tax imposed with respect to the employee, during the period covered by the paycheck, on the agency for Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (FICA tax) and for Hospital Insurance (Medicare tax); and (2) the agency's estimated total payroll allocation for the employee for the period.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to: (1) breaking the cycle of child abuse and neglect; and (2) mobilizing the resources of the faith community, nonprofit organizations, and volunteers in assisting abused and neglected children. Supports the goals and ideas of the Day of Hope and commends Childhelp USA for its efforts on behalf of such children.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Declares that Congress: (1) condemns the National Islamic Front (NIF) Government for its genocidal war in southern Sudan, support for terrorism, and continued human rights violations; and (2) deplores the Government-sponsored and tolerated slave raids in southern Sudan and calls on that Government to immediately end slavery. Calls on the United Nations Security Council to: (1) condemn the slave raids and bring to justice those responsible for these crimes against humanity; (2) impose an arms embargo on the Government of Sudan and implement its resolution 1070 relating to an air embargo; (3) condemn, and take actions against the perpetrators of, enslavement; (4) implement reforms within Operation Lifeline Sudan to enhance independence from NIF; (5) make a determination that NIF's war policy constitutes genocide; and (6) create no-fly zones to protect innocent civilians from aerial bombardment by the NIF air force. Calls for the President to take specified actions, including to increase support for relief organizations that are working outside the U.S.-coordinated relief effort in opposition-controlled areas, to intensify and expand U.S. diplomatic and economic pressures on NIF, and to provide the Sudan People's Liberation Army with defensive anti-aircraft weapons.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1999
Child Custody Protection Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit transporting an individual under age 18 across a State line to obtain an abortion and thereby abridging the right of a parent under a law in force in the State where the individual resides requiring parental involvement in a minor's abortion decision. Makes an exception if the abortion was necessary to save the life of the minor. Specifies that neither the minor transported nor her parent may be prosecuted or sued for a violation of this Act. Makes it an affirmative defense to a prosecution for, or to a civil action based on, such a violation that the defendant reasonably believed that before the individual obtained the abortion, the parental consent or notification or judicial authorization that would have been required had the abortion been performed in the State where the individual resides, took place. Authorizes any parent who suffers legal harm from a violation to obtain appropriate relief in a civil action. Defines "parent" to include a guardian, legal custodian, or person standing in loco parentis who has care and control of the minor, and with whom the minor regularly resides, who is designated by such law as a person to whom notification, or from whom consent, is required.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Requires the Department of State to raise the matter of Zachary Baumel (a U.S. citizen), Yehuda Katz, and Zvi Feldman with the appropriate government officials of Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and with other governments in the region and elsewhere which in the Department's view may be helpful in locating and securing the return of these soldiers. Urges decisions with regard to U.S. economic and other forms of assistance to such countries and U.S. policy towards these governments and authorities to take into consideration their willingness to assist in locating and securing the return of such soldiers. Requires the Department to report to specified congressional committees on its consultations with the appropriate governments and any affected U.S. policies.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Servicemembers Educational Opportunity Act of 1999 - Amends Federal basic educational assistance provisions (the Montgomery GI Bill) to authorize enhanced educational assistance to a member of the armed forces who, after September 30, 1999: (1) first enters on active duty; (2) reenlists or continues to serve on active duty; (3) serves a continuous period of active duty of four years; or (4) serves and is discharged or released for a service-connected disability, at the convenience of the Government (after serving at least 42 months of such duty), or due to a reduction in force. Requires each such member to also have completed the requirements of a secondary school diploma or its equivalent by no later than the original ending date before such extension of duty. Limits to 36 months the period for such enhanced assistance, with a special rule for certain early separations. Requires the payment of educational expenses under such program, including 90 percent of the costs of tuition and fees, and reasonable costs of books, and other supplies. Requires such amounts to be considered income for purposes of eligibility for Federal educational loans or grants under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Provides: (1) a monthly stipend for approved programs of education, with different rates for programs pursued on a full-time, three quarter-time, or half-time basis; and (2) tutorial assistance. (Sec. 3) Repeals, with respect to such assistance: (1) a required monthly reduction in pay for individuals who do not elect to participate in such assistance program; and (2) a provision authorizing individuals to elect not to receive such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
OSHA Reform Act of 1999 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to repeal provisions for: (1) inspections, investigations, and recordkeeping; (2) citations; (3) enforcement procedures; (4) judicial review; and (5) civil and criminal penalties. (Sec. 3) Requires a continuing comprehensive economic analysis of the costs and benefits of each OSHA standard. Directs the Secretary of Labor to consider the number of workers exposed to the toxic material or harmful physical agent, the nature and severity of the potential impairment, and the likelihood of such impairment, in determining the priority for establishing standards dealing with such materials or agents. (Sec. 4) Declares that employee safety and health participation committees are not prohibited under the National Labor Relations Act or the Railway Labor Act. Establishes a small business assistance and training program, including: (1) technical assistance and consultative services for employers and employees, targeted at small businesses and the most hazardous industries; and (2) certain consultative services to employers provided under cooperative agreements between the States and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Requires that at least one-fourth of the annual appropriation to carry out OSHA be expended for such assistance and training program. Directs the Secretary of Labor periodically to make an award to companies and other organizations which have implemented particularly effective approaches to occupational safety and health, including those providing for effective employee involvement.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services of registered dietitians and nutrition professionals.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the use of appropriated funds for: (1) any system to implement the Act that does not require and result in the immediate destruction of all information submitted by or on behalf of any person who has been determined not to be prohibited from owning a firearm; and (2) the implementation or collection of any tax or fee by any Federal officer, agent, or employee, or by any State or local officer or agent acting on behalf of the United States, in connection with such implementation. Authorizes any person aggrieved by a violation of this Act to bring an action in Federal district court and, if successful, to receive damages, punitive damages, and such other remedies as the court may determine to be appropriate, including a reasonable attorney's fee.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow small businesses (corporations, or S corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships meeting C corporation requirements) an increased deduction for meal and entertainment expenses. Waives the current limitation of such deduction to 50 percent of such expenses. Applies to small businesses the applicable percentage currently restricted to certain individuals subject to the hours of service limitations of the Department of Transportation, which ranges from 55 percent for taxable years beginning in 1998 or 1999 up to 80 percent for taxable years beginning in 2008 or thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the exclusion of State or local government foster care payments from the gross income of foster care providers shall also apply to payments by qualifying placement agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1999
Landowners Equal Treatment Act of 1999 - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require the head of an agency to make every possible effort to avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts on non-Federal property that result from Federal use of the property (including constructive use) as a direct result of an agency action under such Act (including actions to provide or retain habitat for endangered or threatened species or to designate non-Federal property as critical habitat). Prohibits an agency from taking action under such Act that results in a Federal use of non-Federal property unless it: (1) obtains the landowner's permission; (2) negotiates a voluntary agreement authorizing such use; or (3) compensates the landowner for the fair market value of the Federal use. Sets forth provisions governing landowner requests for compensation, compensation negotiations, arbitration or civil actions to resolve compensation disagreements, and payment of compensation from an agency's annual appropriations. Prohibits an agency from taking any action that is a Federal use of non-Federal property unless it has given 30 days notice to each property owner directly affected explaining their rights and either obtaining their permission or providing procedures for obtaining compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1999
Black Canyon National Park and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area Act of 1999 - Establishes the Black Canyon National Park in Colorado. Terminates the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument and incorporates all land and interests therein as part of the Park. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to permit grazing within the Park if grazing is permitted on the enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to prepare a grazing management plan to administer such grazing activities. (Sec. 5) Provides for: (1) additional land acquisition for the Park; (2) revision of the Park's boundary to include such land; (3) an official boundary survey of the Park by the Secretary; (4) hunting on privately owned land added to the Park, subject to limitations, conditions, or regulations prescribed by the Secretary; and (5) termination of such hunting on the date the Secretary acquires fee ownership of the privately owned land. (Sec. 6) Expands the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness to include a specified parcel of land to be administered as a component of the Park. (Sec. 7) Establishes the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area to be managed by the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Withdraws all Federal land and interests within the Conservation Area from all forms of appropriations under the public land, mining, mineral and geothermal leasing laws. Requires the Secretary to permit hunting, trapping, and fishing within the Conservation Area, under certain conditions and with the exception of issuing regulations designating zones where and establishing periods when no hunting or trapping shall be permitted for reasons concerning public safety, administration, or public use and enjoyment. Sets forth provisions allowing the use of motorized vehicles in the Conservation Area. Requires the Secretary to develop a comprehensive plan for the long-range protection and management of the Conservation Area and to transmit the plan to specified congressional committees. Allows revision of the Conservation Area's boundary following acquisition of land necessary to accomplish the purposes for which such Area was designated. (Sec. 8) Designates the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness, within the Conservation Area, as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. (Sec. 9) Withdraws certain land identified as tract B on the map entitled "Black Canyon National Park and Gunnison Gorge NCA - 1-22-99" from all forms of appropriations under the public land, mining, mineral and geothermal leasing laws. (Sec. 10) Provides that nothing in this Act shall: (1) constitute an express or implied reservation of water for any purpose; or (2) affect any private or U.S. water rights in existence before enactment of this Act. Requires any new water rights to be established in accordance with the procedural and substantive requirements of Colorado laws. (Sec. 11) Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Park Service, to study and report to Congress on land protection and open space within and adjacent to the Curecanti National Recreation Area. Provides for the acquisition of specified private land or interests in land to be added to the Recreation Area. (Sec. 12) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Domestic Oil and Gas Production Preservation Provisions Title II: Domestic Oil and Gas Industry Crisis Tax Relief Subtitle A: Credits to Cash Provisions Subtitle B: Hard Times Tax Relief Subtitle C: Oil-for-Food Program compensating Tax Benefits Title III: Foreign Oil Reliance Reversal Provisions Title IV: National Security Emergency Provisions Domestic Oil and Gas Crisis Tax Relief and Foreign Oil Reliance Reversal Act of 1999 - Title I: Domestic Oil and Gas Production Preservation Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a marginal oil and gas well production credit. Excludes from gross income certain income attributable to independent producer oil from a recovered inactive well. Extends the enhanced oil recovery credit to include certain nontertiary recovery methods. Title II: Domestic Oil and Gas Industry Crisis Tax Relief - Subtitle A: Credits to Cash Provisions - Provides a ten-year carryback for: (1) unused energy minimum tax credits; (2) percentage depletion for oil and gas recovery; and (3) losses attributable to oil servicing companies and mineral interests of oil and gas producers. Provides for a waiver of limitations. Subtitle B: Hard Times Tax Relief - Provides, as a general rule, that in computing the alternative minimum taxable income of any taxpayer which is an integrated oil company for any taxable year beginning after 1998, there shall be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to the alternative tax energy preference deduction (as defined). Makes the depreciation adjustment inapplicable to property used in the active conduct of the trade or business of exploring for, extracting, developing, or gathering crude oil or natural gas. Repeals specified adjustments. Allows using the enhanced oil recovery credit and the credit for producing oil from a nonconventional source against the minimum tax. Subtitle C: Oil-for-Food Program Compensating Tax Benefits - Increases the percentage depletion for stripper wells. Repeals the net income limitation on percentage depletion for oil and gas properties. Permits a taxpayer to treat geological and geophysical expenses incurred in connection with the exploration for, or development of, oil or gas within the United States as expenses which are not chargeable to capital account. Doubles from the 90th to the 180th day the time allowed under the "spudding rule." Title III: Foreign Oil Reliance Reversal Provisions - Establishes a crude oil and natural gas exploration credit. Title IV: National Security Emergency Provisions - Directs the President to: (1) establish a National Security Energy Independence Ceiling which shall represent a ceiling beyond which foreign crude and oil product imports as a share of U.S. crude and oil product consumption shall not rise; (2) report to Congress annually with a national security projection for energy independence; and (3) certify whether such imports will exceed the ceiling. Provides for review of each projection by Congress. Requires the President, if the ceiling level will be exceeded, to submit a National Security and Oil production policy to Congress which shall prevent such imports from the exceeding the National Security Energy Independence Ceiling.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
Printed Circuit Investment Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify as three-year depreciable property any printed wiring board or printed wiring assembly equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanding Coverage Title II: Enhancing Fairness for Women and Children Title III: Increasing Portability for Participants Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement Title V: Reducing Regulatory Burdens Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) with respect to pensions. Title I: Expanding Coverage - Restores the amounts of certain limitations formerly in effect under the Code for: (1) defined benefit plans; (2) defined contribution plans; (3) qualified trusts; (4) elective deferrals; (5) deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations; (6) simple retirement accounts; and (7) cost-of-living adjustments. (Sec. 102) Amends the Code and ERISA to revise requirements relating to plan loans for subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors. (Sec. 103) Allows employers to elect salary reduction only arrangements under Code requirements for simple plans. (Sec. 104) Revises specified top-heavy rules. Repeals family aggregation rules. Revises the definition of key employee. Provides that, at the election of the employer, any employee elective contribution to a plan shall not be taken into account for purposes of determining: (1) whether a plan is a top-heavy plan (or whether any aggregation group which includes such plan is a top-heavy group); or (2) compensation. Requires that employer matching contributions be taken into account for purposes of minimum contribution requirements. Revises requirements for qualifications. Provides for distributions during the last year before a determination date is taken into account. Excludes from the definition of top-heavy plan: (1) cash or deferred arrangements using alternative methods of meeting nondiscrimination requirements; and (2) defined contribution plans using alternative methods of meeting nondiscrimination requirements. Provides that elective deferrals will not be taken into account for purposes of a special rule where the maximum contribution is less than three percent. (Sec. 105) Provides that qualified staffing firms are to be considered employers for purposes of: (1) specified employment taxes; and (2) providing employee benefits. Provides for coverage of leased employees in employment benefit plans by: (1) applying to leased employees certain requirements concerning cash or deferred arrangements, matching contributions, and employee contributions; and (2) setting forth special rules for the leasing organization's plan. Revises safe harbor plan requirements. (Sec. 106) Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. (Sec. 107) Amends ERISA to provide for a phase-in of an additional premium for new plans to pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). (Sec. 108) Repeals specified coordination requirements under the Code for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 109) Eliminates user fee requirements for requests to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) concerning the status of pension plans. (Sec. 110) Sets forth an alternative method of meeting nondiscrimination requirements for automatic contribution trusts. (Sec. 111) Revises certain deduction limits for stock bonus and profit sharing trusts and for defined contribution plans. (Sec. 112) Provides for optional treatment of elective deferrals as plus contributions. (Sec. 113) Establishes a tax credit for pension plan startup costs of small employers. Title II: Enhancing Fairness for Women and Children - Allows additional salary reduction catch-up contributions for those approaching retirement under Code requirements relating to: (1) elective deferrals; (2) simple retirement accounts; and (3) deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 202) Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Requires that certain contributions by church plans are not to be treated as exceeding a specified limit. (Sec. 203) Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code and ERISA. (Sec. 204) Amends Federal civil service law to revise requirements for deferred annuities for surviving spouses of Federal employees under both the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). (Sec. 205) Revises minimum distribution rules under the Code. Revises requirements for actuarial adjustment of benefit under a defined benefit plan. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) simplify and finalize the regulations relating to minimum distribution requirements; and (2) modify such regulations to reflect increases in life expectancy, and revise required distribution methods so that, under reasonable assumptions, the amount of the required minimum distribution does not decrease over a participant's life expectancy. Provides that, during the first year that such revised regulations are in effect, required distributions for future years may be redetermined, with the opportunity to choose a new designated beneficiary and to elect a new method of calculating life expectancy. Excludes specified amounts from minimum distribution requirements. Repeals a rule relating to distributions begun before death occurs. (Sec. 206) Revises requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce. (Sec. 207) Amends Federal civil service law to eliminate certain percentage limitations on contributions to the Thrift Savings Fund (TSF) under FERS and CSRS. (Sec. 208) Allows certain contributions to TSF of eligible rollover distributions of eligible retirement plans. (Sec. 209) Eliminates certain waiting periods for purposes of contributions to TSF. Title III: Increasing Portability for Participants - Permits rollovers from and to various types of plans under the Code. (Sec. 302) Permits individual retirement plan (IRA) rollovers only if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 303) Permits rollover of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust under specified conditions. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. (Sec. 304) Sets forth requirements for treatment of forms of distribution available under transferor and transferee plans, under both the Code and ERISA. (Sec. 305) Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Repeals business sale requirements. (Sec. 306) Authorizes trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. (Sec. 307) Allows employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts, under retirement plan provisions of the Code and ERISA. Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement - Amends the Code and ERISA to revise the percentage of current liability funding limit. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules and applies them to all defined benefit plan under the Code. (Sec. 402) Amends ERISA to revise requirements relating to missing participants. Direct the PBGC to prescribe rules relating to missing participants for multiemployer plans covered by the PBGC that terminate. Allows the administrator of a plan not otherwise subject to such PBGC regulation to elect to transfer a missing participant's benefits to the PBGC upon termination of the plan, under specified conditions. (Sec. 403) Amends ERISA to revise requirements for periodic pension benefits statements. (Sec. 404) Amends ERISA to make discretionary the imposition and amount of civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility. Revises requirements for the applicable recovery amount and related rules. (Sec. 405) Amends the Code to allow an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent that they exceed the full-funding limitation. (Sec. 406) Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to make specified amendments inapplicable to elective deferrals used to pay indebtedness, incurred before a certain date, on plan acquisition of employer securities or real property. (Sec. 407) Amends ERISA to revise requirements for notice of significant reductions in plan benefits. Title V: Reducing Regulatory Burdens - Amends the Code to provide intermediate sanctions for inadvertent failures. Provides for protection from disqualification upon timely correction or payment of fine under requirements for: (1) qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans; (2) qualified cash or deferred arrangements (section 401(k) plans); and (3) annuity contracts. Provides that, under requirements relating to taxability of the beneficiary of a nonexempt trust, income inclusion for disqualification is not applicable to nonhighly compensated employees. (Sec. 502) Repeals a multiple use test. Directs the Secretary prescribe regulations permitting appropriate aggregation of plans and contributions. (Sec. 503) Directs the Secretary to provide by regulation that a plan shall be deemed to satisfy specified requirements of the Code if it satisfies a certain facts and circumstances test, under specified conditions. (Sec. 504) Revises line of business rules to: (1) repeal a gateway test; and (2) provide a line of business exception. Directs the Secretary to modify regulations relating to special rules for separate lines of business under the Code to: (1) simplify the administrability of the rules for both the Secretary and plans; and (2) permit employees to be allocated among lines of business based on all the facts and circumstances. (Sec. 505) Grants the Secretary discretion in applying a specified coverage test to a plan. (Sec. 506) Amends the Code and ERISA to provide for an annual inflation adjustment to increase the retirement plan cash-out amount. (Sec. 507) Amends the Code and ERISA to revise requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. (Sec. 508) Makes inapplicable to certain mirror plans specified Code requirements relating to deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 509) Amends ERISA rules for substantial owners relating to plan terminations to revise: (1) the phase-in of the guarantee; and (2) the allocation of assets. (Sec. 510) Amends Code requirements for applicable dividends to allow dividends of employee stock ownership plans to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. (Sec. 511) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the regulations regarding the exclusion allowance to render void the requirement that contributions to a defined benefit pension plan be treated as previously excluded amounts. (Sec. 512) Provides for a special limitation rule for multiemployer plans as well as governmental plans. (Sec. 513) Eliminates partial termination rules for multiemployer plans. (Sec. 514) Revises the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations under the Code to provide that the description of a participant's right, if any, to defer receipt of a distribution shall also describe the consequences of failing to defer such receipt. (Sec. 515) Sets forth conforming amendments relating to election to receive taxable cash compensation in lieu of nontaxable parking benefits. (Sec. 516) Extends to international organizations the moratorium on application of certain nondiscrimination rules applicable to State and local plans. (Sec. 517) Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities under the Code. (Sec. 518) Provides for permissive aggregation of collective bargaining units in specified circumstances relating to plan participation under the Code. (Sec. 519) Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (Sec. 520) Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer to an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Prohibits including an amount in an employee's gross income solely because the employee may choose between any retirement planning fringe and compensation otherwise includible in gross income, providing such choices are available in a way that does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. (Sec. 521) Revises ERISA requirements for annual report dissemination. (Sec. 522) Revises the ERISA definition of an excess benefit plan. (Sec. 523) Directs the Secretary of Labor to modify a regulation requiring a benefit suspension notification to allow such notification to: (1) be included in the summary plan description, rather than in a separate notice; and (2) not include a copy of the relevant plan provisions. (Sec. 524) Prescribes requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments under the Code and ERISA. (Sec. 525) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide simplified annual filing requirements for: (1) one-participant (an owner and spouse) retirement plans with assets below a specified amount; or (2) retirement plans for fewer than 25 employees. (Sec. 526) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue model defined contribution and benefit plans that fit the needs of small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1999
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to give States the option of making medical assistance for breast and cervical cancer-related treatment services available during a presumptive eligibility period to certain low-income women without creditable coverage who have already been screened for such cancers under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention breast and cervical cancer early detection program and need treatment. Provides for an enhanced match with regard to such Medicaid treatment services.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1999
Directs the Secretary of Defense to report annually to Congress on the future pattern of military modernization of the People's Republic of China, including both the probable course of military-technological development in the People's Liberation Army and the development of Chinese military strategy and operational concepts.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1999
Reforestation Tax Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction to a taxpayer who has a qualified timber gain in an amount equal to the qualified percentage of such gain. Decreases the amortization period for reforestation expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Family Relief Subtitle A: Tax Relief Subtitle B: Relief from Social Security Earning Test Title II: Business Relief Title III: Savings and Investment Title IV: Education Lifetime Tax Relief Act of 1999 - Title I: Family Relief - Subtitle A: Tax Relief - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to: (1) set the basic standard deduction for married individuals at twice the deduction for unmarried individuals; (2) increase the personal exemption from $2,000 to $3,500; (3) reduce individual income taxes by increasing the amounts of income subject to tax at the 15 percent rate; and (4) fully allow nonrefundable personal credits against regular tax liability during 1999 and 2000 (currently, 1998). Subtitle B: Relief From Social Security Earning Test - Eliminates the earnings test for individuals of retirement age. Title II: Business Relief - Provides for the phaseout of subtitle B (Estate and Gift Taxes) of the IRC with the total repeal of such subtitle being effective January 1, 2010. Makes permanent the: (1) research credit; (2) work opportunity credit; and (3) subpart F (relating to special rule for income derived in the active conduct of banking, financing, or similar businesses) exemption for active financing income. Provides for the deduction of 100 percent of the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Increases from 50 to 100 percent the amount of gain excluded from the sale certain small business stock. Reduces from five to three years the holding period applicable to such a sale. Makes such exclusion available to corporations. Makes the stock of larger businesses eligible. Doubles the annual limitation on incentive stock options. Title III: Savings and Investment - Excludes from the gross income of an individual up to $1,000 of net capital gain. Increases the maximum amount of the IRA deduction to $3,000. Doubles the elective deferral limit if an employee's spouse is not participating in elective deferral plans. Title IV: Education - Set forth provisions concerning: (1) financing school construction; (2) the exclusion from income of education distributions from qualified tuition programs; and (3) coverage of private tuition programs.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1999
Constitutional Amendment - Requires that any bill, resolution, or other legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws shall require for final adoption in each House the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of that House voting and present, unless the bill is determined at the time of adoption, in a reasonable manner prescribed by law, not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. States that for purposes of determining any increase, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. Requires journal entry of any vote. Permits the waiver of such requirement, for up to two years, if there is a declaration of war or if the United States is engaged in a military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution which becomes law.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1999
Military Family Food Stamp Tax Credit Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to annually allow a $500 refundable credit to certain low-income members of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1999
Date Certain Tax Code Replacement Act - Prohibits the imposition of any tax by the Internal Revenue Code: (1) for any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2002; and (2) in the case of any tax not imposed on the basis of a taxable year, on any taxable event or for any period after December 31, 2002. Excepts the: (1) tax on self-employment income (chapter 2 of the Code); (2) Federal Insurance Contributions Act (chapter 21 of the Code); and (3) Railroad Retirement Tax Act (chapter 22 of the Code). Declares that any new Federal tax system should be: (1) a simple and fair system; and (2) approved by the Congress in its final form no later than July 4, 2002.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1999
Firearms Heritage Protection Act of 1999 - Prohibits civil actions from being brought against a manufacturer or seller of a firearm or ammunition, or a component thereof, that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce (a firearm), or a trade association of such manufacturers or sellers, for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm. Requires dismissal of any such action that is pending on the date of this Act's enactment. Specifies an exception with respect to actions against persons who transfer a firearm knowing that it will be used to commit a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Workplace Preservation Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Labor from promulgating, through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, any standard or guideline on ergonomics until the National Academy of Sciences completes a study and submits a report to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
American Debt Repayment Act - Prohibits budgeted outlays from exceeding budgeted revenues, beginning with FY 2000. Requires, beginning with FY 2000, that actual revenues exceed actual outlays in order to provide for the reduction of the gross Federal debt. Requires the amount of reduction to be equal to the amount required to amortize the debt over the next 30 years in order to repay the entire debt by the end of FY 2029. Authorizes a congressional waiver of this Act when a declaration of war is in effect. Prohibits a bill to increase revenues from being deemed to pass the House of Representatives or the Senate unless approved by a majority roll call vote of both Houses. Directs the Congress to review actual revenues on a quarterly basis and adjust outlays to comply with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Advancement in Pediatric Autism Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to autism. Requires the Director, among other things, to make awards of grants and contracts to public or nonprofit entities for centers of excellence regarding research on autism. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program to provide information and education on autism to health professionals and the general public. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish an Autism Coordinating Committee to coordinate HHS efforts concerning autism.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Helpers Job Opportunity Act - Provides for the creation of an additional category of laborers or mechanics known as helpers under the Davis-Bacon Act. Requires a helper of a laborer or mechanic to be paid the prevailing wage of helpers of laborers or mechanics employed on similar projects in the same subdivision of the State.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Prompt Compensation Act of 1999 - Amends the Declaration of Taking Act to require (current law authorizes): (1) the petitioner in a proceeding in a U.S. court outside of the District of Columbia instituted for the acquisition of land for the United States for public use, to file within 90 days after filing the petition (currently, at any time before judgment) a declaration that such lands are thereby taken; (2) the petitioner, upon the filing of such declaration, to deposit with the court the amount estimated by the acquiring authority to be just compensation for the land taken as stated in such declaration; and (3) the court, upon application of the parties in interest, to order that such compensation be awarded.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Keep Drug Needles Off the Streets Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit Federal funds from being expended to carry out any program of distributing sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic injection of illegal drugs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Self-employed Health Insurance Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for 100 percent of a self-employed individual's health insurance costs for himself or herself, spouse, and dependents, unless such individual participates in an employer-maintained health plan. (Current law provides for a phased-in 100 percent deduction and disallowance upon participation eligibility.)
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1999
Farm and Ranch Risk Management Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual engaged in an eligible farming business to deduct a limited amount from gross income for amounts paid into an interest-bearing Farm and Ranch Risk Management (FARRM) Account, created for the taxpayer's exclusive benefit. Requires withdrawal of contributions within five years, upon which they are taxable as ordinary income in the year of withdrawal. Prescribes penalties on amounts not distributed within five years.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1999
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) recognizes the generous contribution made by each living person who has donated a kidney to save a life; and (2) acknowledges the advances in medical technology that have enabled living kidney transplantation to become a viable treatment option for an increasing number of patients with end stage renal disease.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
Spanish Peaks Wilderness Act of 1999 - Amends the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to designate certain lands in the San Isabel National Forest, Colorado, as the Spanish Peaks Wilderness. Requires: (1) the Secretary of Agriculture to allow the continuation of historic uses of the Bulls Eye Mine Road; and (2) access to be provided to any privately owned landwithin the Wilderness in accordance with the Wilderness Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
No Second Chances for Murderers, Rapists, or Child Molesters Act of 1999 or Aimee's Law - Expresses the sense of the Congress that any individual convicted of: (1) murder should receive the death penalty or be imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole; and (2) rape or a dangerous sexual offense involving a child under age 14 should be imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole. Requires the Attorney General to transfer the following amounts from Federal law enforcement assistance funds that have been allocated to but not distributed to the State that convicted a person of a first offense of murder, rape, or a dangerous sexual offense to a State that convicts that person for a subsequent such offense: (1) up to $100,000 for transfer to each victim of the subsequent offense; and (2) the cost of incarceration, prosecution, and apprehension of such person. Sets forth provisions regarding situations where a person has a prior conviction in more than one State. Directs the Attorney General to seek to obtain information for each calendar year, starting with calendar year 1999, about the number of convictions for murder, rape, and any sex offenses in the United States: (1) where the victim has not attained age 14 and the offender has attained age 18; and (2) that are second or subsequent convictions of the defendant for such a crime. Sets forth reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
Family Education Freedom Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit of up to $3,000 per student per year for the cost of attendance at any educational institution (including any private, parochial, religious, or home school) organized to provide elementary or secondary education (or both).
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
Liberty Dollar Bill Act - Amends Federal law to mandate that the design of the reverse side of $1 Federal reserve notes incorporate: (1) the preamble to the Constitution; (2) a list describing the Articles of the Constitution; and (3) a list describing the Articles of Amendment. Prescribes the design format. States that such requirements do not limit the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) include other inscriptions or material on the reverse side of $1 bills; or (2) adopt other design features to deter counterfeiting of currency.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
Childrens' (sic) Internet Protection Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to make an elementary school, secondary school, or library ineligible to receive or retain universal service assistance under such Act unless it certifies to the Federal Communications Commission that it has selected and installed (or will install) a technology for computers with Internet access which filters or blocks material deemed harmful to minors. Requires the determination of what shall be considered inappropriate for minors to be made by the appropriate school, school board, library, or other responsible authority, without Federal interference.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1999
Regulatory Fair Warning Act of 1999 - Prohibits a Federal agency or court from imposing a sanction for a violation of a rule if the agency or court finds any one of the following: (1) the rule was not printed in the Code of Federal Regulations or in the Federal Register, was not known to the person, or was not knowable to a person who has engaged in a reasonable, good faith investigation of the rules applicable to the conduct that allegedly violated the rule; (2) the rule failed to give the person fair warning of the conduct that it prohibits or requires; or (3) with respect only to a retrospective sanction, the person acted in reasonable reliance upon written representations about what the rule prohibits or requires which were issued by the agency or an official with actual or apparent authority to interpret, administer, or enforce the rule.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1999
American Land Sovereignty Protection Act - Amends the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from nominating any Federal lands for inclusion on the World Heritage List pursuant to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage unless: (1) the Secretary publishes a finding that commercially viable uses of nominated lands and lands within ten miles of them will not be adversely affected by such inclusion; (2) the Secretary has reported to the Congress on the lands' natural resources and the impact that the inclusion would have on existing and future uses of such lands; and (3) such nomination is specifically authorized by a law. Authorizes the President to submit proposals for legislation authorizing such a nomination after publication of the Secretary's finding. Requires the Secretary to object to the inclusion of any property in the United States on the list of World Heritage in Danger (established under the Convention) unless the Secretary: (1) has reported to the Congress on the necessity for such inclusion, the natural resources associated with the property, and the impact such inclusion would have on existing and future uses of such property; and (2) is specifically authorized to assent to the inclusion by a joint resolution of the Congress enacted after the report is submitted. Directs the Secretary to submit an annual report to specified congressional committees on the management of each World Heritage Site within the United States. (Sec. 4) Prohibits any Federal official from nominating any lands in the United States for designation as a Biosphere Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Provides that any such designation before enactment of this Act shall not have any force or effect, unless the Biosphere Reserve: (1) is specifically authorized by a law enacted before December 31, 2000; (2) consists solely of federally owned lands; and (3) is subject to a management plan that specifically ensures that the use of intermixed or adjacent non-Federal property is not limited or restricted as a result of that designation. Directs the Secretary of State to report annually to specified congressional committees information on the management of each Biosphere Reserve within the United States. (Sec. 5) Prohibits any Federal official from nominating, classifying, or designating any Federal land located within the United States for a special or restricted use under any international agreement for conserving, preserving, or protecting the terrestrial or marine environment, flora, or fauna (with specified exceptions) unless specifically authorized by law, but authorizes the Secretary to submit proposals for authorizing legislation. Provides that any such nomination, classification, or designation of private or State or local lands shall have no force or effect without the owner's consent or specific authorization by State or local law, respectively.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1999
Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1999 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn (earnings test) without incurring a reduction in benefits.
![Official portrait of Rep. Schaffer, Bob [R-CO-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000112_200.jpg)