United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 1991 - Title I: Additional Safeguards to Protect Taxpayers' Rights - Subtitle A: Taxpayers' Advocate - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the Office of Taxpayers' Advocate, headed by the Taxpayers' Advocate, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Office to: (1) assist taxpayers in resolving problems with the IRS; (2) identify areas in which taxpayers have problems in dealings with the IRS; (3) propose changes in the administrative practices of the IRS to mitigate such problems; and (4) identify potential legislative changes which may be appropriate to mitigate such problems. Requires the Taxpayers' Advocate to annually report to specified congressional committees on Office activities. Requires the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to establish procedures requiring a formal response to all recommendations submitted to the Commissioner by the Taxpayers' Advocate. Authorizes the terms of a Taxpayer Assistance Order to require the Secretary of the Treasury to take certain actions (currently, only to cease or refrain from taking such actions). Subtitle B: Modifications to Installment Agreement Provisions - Requires prior notification to taxpayers under an installment agreement to pay tax liability before altering, modifying, or terminating such an agreement. Provides for administrative review of denials of requests for installment agreements. Suspends the failure to pay penalty during any period an installment agreement is in effect. Subtitle C: Interest - Extends from ten days to 21 days the period for which interest will not be imposed after notice and demand for payment, if such payment is less than $100,000. Provides for the abatement of interest in the case of an assessment due to the error or delay of an IRS managerial act. Increases the interest rate for overpayment of tax from two percent to three percent (making such rate equal to the interest rate for underpayment of tax). Waives interest on all overpayments refunded within 45 days after a return is filed. Subtitle D: Joint Returns - Requires separate deficiency notices in the case of a joint income tax return if the most recent data available to the IRS shows that such spouses did not file a joint return with each other. Allows the disclosure of collection activities to an individual requesting such information in the case of a joint return where such individual is no longer married to or resides in the same household as the other joint filer. Removes limitations on filing a joint return after filing separate returns. Subtitle E: Collection Activities - Authorizes the Secretary, if it is determined to be in the best interest of the taxpayer and the United States, to: (1) withdraw a notice of a lien; (2) return property that has been levied upon; and (3) offer compromises in civil or criminal cases. Requires the Secretary, at the request of the taxpayer, to make reasonable efforts to notify credit reporting agencies and financial institutions of such withdrawal notice. Subtitle E (sic): Erroneous and Fraudulent Information Returns - Requires payee statements to provide the phone number of the person providing payment. Establishes civil damages for the fraudulent filing of information returns. Requires the Secretary to take reasonable steps to corroborate the accuracy of an information return when making a determination of a deficiency by a third party, when such return is disputed by the taxpayer. Subtitle F: Modifications to Penalty for Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax - Declares that a person shall not be liable for any penalty for failure to collect and pay over tax if such person: (1) is not a significant owner, or highly compensated employee of the trade or business; (2) notifies the Secretary within ten days after such failure; and (3) such notification was before any notice by the Secretary with respect to such failure. Requires the Secretary to disclose certain information where more than one person is liable for a penalty. Subtitle G: Awarding of Costs and Certain Fees - Repeals the "substantially justified" test for determining whether a taxpayer may recover costs and fees incurred as part of an administrative or court proceeding. Provides for the awarding of reasonable litigation or administrative costs to a prevailing party who represents himself in an administrative or court proceeding. Makes IRS employees personally liable in certain cases. Provides that any failure to agree to an extension of time for the assessment of any tax shall not be taken into account in determining whether a prevailing party has exhausted all administrative remedies. Subtitle H: Other Provisions - Revises provisions on the required content of tax due, deficiency, and other notices. Provides for the treatment of returns prepared for or executed by the Secretary for purposes of certain tax penalties. Provides protection for taxpayers who rely on certain guidance published by the IRS. Title II: Form Modifications, Studies - Subtitle A: Form Modifications - Directs the Secretary to: (1) ensure that taxpayers are aware of permission to pay tax in installments, extensions of time for payment of tax, and compromises of tax liability; (2) improve procedures for taxpayers to notify the Secretary of changes in names and addresses; (3) include in a specified publication a section on the rights and responsibilities of divorced individuals; (4) ensure that employees are aware of their responsibilities under the Federal tax system and that the public is aware of penalties for failure to collect and pay over tax; and (5) notify taxpayers any payments that cannot be associated with any outstanding tax liability. Subtitle B: Studies - Requires the Secretary to report to the tax-writing committees on: (1) a pilot program for appeals of certain enforcement actions (including lien, levy, and seizure actions; (2) a study on ways to assist the elderly, physically impaired, foreign-language speaking, and other taxpayers with special needs to comply with IRS laws; (3) the scope and content of the IRS taxpayer-rights education program for its officers and employees; and (4) cases involving complaints about misconduct of IRS employees and the disposition of such complaints. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the tax-writing committees on: (1) a study of notices of deficiency; (2) the accuracy and clarity of 25 of the most commonly used IRS forms, notices, and publications; and (3) a study of IRS employee-suggestion programs.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Federal-State Pesticide Regulation Partnership Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to remove the authority of political subdivisions to inspect records of persons selling or delivering pesticides for purposes of enforcing such Act. Prohibits local governments from imposing or continuing any requirement regarding pesticides or devices.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Reforestation Tax Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide taxpayers a partial inflation adjustment for the deduction from gross income for qualified timber gain. Allows such deduction in computing adjusted gross income. Provides for applying passive loss limitations to timber activities. Increases the amount allowable as a deduction for amortization of reforestation expenditures and provides an inflation adjustment after calendar year 1992. Applies such inflation adjustment to the reforestation credit.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1991
Pacific Yew Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior (Secretaries) to pursue a policy to provide for: (1) the long-term conservation of the pacific yew on lands under their jurisdiction; and (2) a sustainable supply of it for medicinal purposes. Requires the Secretary concerned to ensure that timber sales awarded after the enactment of this Act and such sales completed prior to such enactment but still unharvested be conducted in a specified manner. Directs the Secretaries to establish a special task force in each of their respective Departments to ensure that the purposes of this Act are achieved through the: (1) implementation of the policy required by it; and (2) guidelines and plan developed by the Interagency Pacific Yew Committee (established later on in this Act). Requires the Secretaries to inventory pacific yew on lands under their jurisdiction. Directs the Secretaries to jointly establish an interdisciplinary Interagency Pacific Yew Committee to submit interim guidelines for the harvest, management, and conservation of the pacific yew until the Committee develops a proposed conservation and management plan for it. Requires the Secretaries to submit such plan to specified congressional committees. Sets forth requirements for the interim guidelines and the management and conservation plan. Establishes procedures for implementation of them. Directs the Secretaries to encourage and assist in research regarding the: (1) ecology of the Pacific Yew; (2) development of alternative methods of procuring taxol (a cancer-treating drug made from the pacific yew), including use of other yew parts in addition to bark, the sustainable harvest of yew needles, and the use of other yew species; and (3) propagation of Pacific Yew and other yew species in agricultural or commercial settings. Directs the Secretary concerned to ensure: (1) development, implementation, and enforcement of processes for the collection and sale of Pacific Yew resources to minimize the illegal harvest and sale of them; and (2) timely access to Pacific Yew resources so that collection of Pacific Yew parts can occur before the taxol properties of such parts are degraded. States that nothing in this Act shall be interpreted as modifying the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. Directs the Secretaries concerned to report with recommendations to specified congressional committees on ways to increase the harvest of Pacific Yew if sufficient amounts of it cannot be harvested in compliance with this Act and other Federal law to supply the necessary amounts of taxol required for medicinal purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1991
Second National Blue Ribbon Commission to Eliminate Waste in Government Act - Establishes the Second National Blue Ribbon Commission to Eliminate Waste in Government to: (1) conduct a private sector survey on management and cost control in the Federal Government; (2) review executive agency operations and existing General Accounting Office, Congressional Budget Office, Inspector General Reports, and other existing governmental and nongovernmental recommendations for reducing waste; and (3) submit to the President and the Congress a list of those recommendations with estimated savings that the Commission determines are most significant and recommendations for improving the budget process, management, and reducing waste and costs in the Government. Requires the Commission to identify, address, and to report to the President and the Congress on: (1) opportunities for increased efficiency and reduced costs in the Government that can be realized by executive action or legislation; (2) areas in the Government where managerial accountability can be enhanced and administrative control can be improved; (3) specific Federal programs that have accomplished their objectives and ought to be terminated; (4) specific Federal program services that could be provided at a lower cost by the private sector; (5) specific reforms of the budget process that would yield savings, increase accountability and efficiency, and enhance public confidence in the budget process; (6) specific areas in the Government where further study can be justified by potential savings; and (7) specific recommendations for legislative and administrative actions. Requires the Commission to be funded, staffed, and equipped, to the extent practicable and permitted by law, by the private sector without cost to the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Calls upon the President not to proceed toward the normalization of diplomatic and economic relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam until the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs has reported its findings on the accounting of missing American servicemen in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should award the Presidential Unit Citation to the U.S.S. Nevada's crew for their heroism and gallantry during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Urges the President to: (1) support and negotiate with the United Nations (UN) to earmark funds, in the range of 25 percent of the monies collected for the UN Commission Fund, towards the costs of oil spill cleanup and restoration in the Arabian Gulf and Kuwait, including the costs incurred by the U.S. Coast Guard; and (2) enhance U.S. cooperation and assistance in providing expertise to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in cleanup and restoration efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Amends the Public Health Service Act to give, to States adopting measures relating to medical malpractice liability that give incentives to health care providers to provide services to individuals unable to pay, priority for assistance under provisions relating to: (1) migrant and community health centers; and (2) health services for the homeless and residents of public housing. Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to give priority to such States for assistance under provisions relating to: (1) comprehensive homeless assistance plans; and (2) discretionary allocations for urgent needs of homeless persons.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1991
Provides that the period for which expenses of the former Speakers of the House of Representatives may be paid shall end three years after the expiration date of such term of office, except that in the case of a former Speaker who is receiving such expenses on the date of the enactment of this Act, the period shall end three years after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Rural Health Innovation Demonstration Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize competitive grants for the development of networks among rural and urban health care providers to preserve and share health care resources and enhance the quality and availability of health care in rural areas. Allows the networks to be statewide or regional. Specifies the services for which grant amounts must be used. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes competitive grants to develop and administer cooperatives in rural areas that will establish an effective case management and reimbursement system designed to support the economic viability of essential public or private health services, facilities, health care systems, and health care resources. Involves the cooperative in matters such as third party reimbursement, employee health insurance, malpractice insurance, and managed care and practice standards. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes competitive grants to develop and implement a plan for mental health outreach programs in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants to enable rural communities to provide stipends to physicians, nurses, or other health professional trainees to encourage such individuals to continue to provide health care services in such communities. Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions relating to area health education centers.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1991
Area Health Education Centers Reauthorization Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to specify a term of six years for agreements establishing area health education centers (AHECs). Modifies the purposes of AHECs, including serving high-impact areas and States as well as border areas close to Mexico. Mandates, if available in the area, participation of a school of public health. Authorizes agreements for the planning, development, and operation of State-supported AHECs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to publish and update clearly defined arrival and departure routes leading to and from airports located within and in close proximity to terminal control areas and airport radar service areas for the optional use of pilots operating under visual flight rules.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Intermodal Carriers Competitiveness Act of 1991 - Prohibits a State, political subdivision, or interstate agency of two or more States from adopting or enforcing any law, rule, regulation, or standard relating to interstate or intrastate rates, routes, services, or terms of service of any national intermodal carrier with respect to the provision of surface transportation of property in the State.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
United States Flag Cruise Ship Competitiveness Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law (commonly referred to as the Johnson Act) relating to transportation of gambling devices to exclude from the definition of interstate commerce, transportation from a State to the same State through a place outside that State when such commerce may only be conducted through points not in that State. Repeals all of a specified Federal law (commonly referred to as the Gambling Ship Act) except provisions relating to the transmission of wagering information. Makes unlawful certain actions in connection with a vessel which has any gaming establishment aboard unless in compliance with certain regulations, including registration with the Attorney General and licensing by a State. Provides for certification by the Attorney General of State procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Food Quality Protection Act of 1991 - Title I: Cancellation and Suspension - Amends provisions of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) relating to cancellation and changes in classification or other terms or conditions of registration with respect to the authority of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Requires that a rulemaking under such provisions be based on a validated test or other significant evidence raising prudent concerns of unreasonable adverse effects to man or to the environment. Sets forth procedural requirements for such a rulemaking. Provides for amendment of a rule and for judicial review. Allows the Administrator, in the case of a suspension, to waive certain requirements. Allows the Administrator to elect to proceed with a special review proceeding or a public interim administrative review proceeding, if published before a specified date, under the law in effect before enactment of this Act. Requires the Administrator to reassess each tolerance and exemption from the requirement for a tolerance at certain times in connection with reregistration of pesticides. Establishes the Science Review Board to assist the Scientific Advisory Panel in reviews conducted by the Panel. Revises procedures applicable after denial of an application for registration. Allows the Administrator to deny an application for registration because it does not comply with the requirements of a rule issued under provisions of this Act. Repeals provisions regulating the authority of the Administrator to initiate a public interim administrative review process. Declares a decision made after a hearing in certain circumstances during phase three of reregistration to be final. Amends provisions regulating: (1) review by district courts of suspension of registrations; and (2) public hearings. Title II: Data Collection - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to collect pesticide use data of Statewide or regional significance for all the major crops and crops of dietary significance. Mandates research, development, and dissemination of integrated pest management techniques and other pest control methods that enable producers to reduce or eliminate application of pesticides which pose a greater than negligible dietary risk to humans. Title III: Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to define, subject to exception, "pesticide chemical" as it is defined in the FIFRA. Adds to the list of prohibited acts under the FDCA violation of provisions relating to confidentiality of data, as amended by this Act. Deems a food adulterated if it bears or contains: (1) a pesticide chemical residue that is unsafe; or (2) a new animal drug, or conversion product thereof, that is unsafe. Sets forth requirements relating to tolerances and exemptions from the requirement of a tolerance for pesticide chemical residues in food, including residues of degradation products. Prohibits establishment of a tolerance higher than a level the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines is adequate to protect the public health. Sets forth the factors the Administrator must consider. Allows a greater than negligible dietary risk if: (1) use protects from greater adverse health effects to humans or the environment; (2) use avoids greater risks from another pesticide; or (3) the unavailability of the pesticide would reduce the availability of an adequate, wholesome, and economical domestic supply of the food, and the adverse effects from the reduction would outweigh the risk posed by the residue. Allows the Administrator to issue an exemption from the requirement for a tolerance only if the Administrator determines that a tolerance is not needed to protect the public health, in view of the levels of dietary exposure that could reasonably be expected to occur. Sets forth the factors the Administrator must consider. Sets forth procedures and requirements in connection with: (1) petitions for tolerances or exemptions; (2) certain actions authorized on the Administrator's own initiative; (3) the required submission of additional data to support the continuation of a tolerance or exemption; and (4) confidentiality of data submitted to the Administrator. Provides for continuation of previously issued regulations. Sets forth transitional provisions. Prohibits a final rule that revokes, modifies, or suspends a tolerance or exemption until the Administrator has taken any necessary action under the FIFRA with respect to the registration of the pesticide involved. Requires the Administrator, if the Administrator takes certain actions with respect to the registration of a pesticide, to revoke any tolerance or exemption that allows the presence of the chemical or chemical residue. Requires the suspension of any tolerance or exemption upon the suspension of the use of an associated registered pesticide. Provides for: (1) tolerances for unavoidable residues in the case of a residue of a canceled or suspended pesticide chemical that will unavoidably persist in the environment and thereby be present in or on a food; and (2) residues resulting from an application which was lawful at the time of the application. Directs the Administrator to require the payment of fees sufficient for the Administrator's functions under these provisions. Prohibits, subject to exception, a State from establishing or enforcing any limit on a qualifying pesticide chemical residue in or on any food which is not identical to Federal requirements. Prohibits a State from enforcing a residue limit which was lawful at the time of application. Authorizes appropriations for increased monitoring by the Secretary of Health and Human Services of pesticide residues in imported and domestic food.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Veterans Dignity in Health Care Act of 1991 - Grants veterans who are patients or residents in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, nursing homes, and domiciliaries the right to purchase and use tobacco products. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that: (1) each VA facility that maintains a commissary or canteen makes tobacco products available through, and provides patients or residents access to, the commissary or canteen; and (2) each VA facility maintains and provides patients or residents access to an indoor patient smoking area.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Economic Growth Act of 1991 - Title I: Investment and Job Creation Incentives - Subtitle A: Reduction in Capital Gains Tax for Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a capital gains deduction for individuals for assets held from one to three years. Provides special rules for the gain or loss from the sale or exchange of collectibles and sales of interest in partnerships. Disallows such deduction in computing the alternative minimum tax. Revises the formula for determining gain from the dispositions of certain depreciable realty to take into account depreciation adjustments (adjustments allowed or allowable for exhaustion, wear and tear, obsolescence, or certain amortization). Subtitle B: Inflation Adjustment for Investments - Requires indexing, based on the consumer price index, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business after April 15, 1991) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Provides for the inflation adjustment treatment of: (1) short sales; (2) regulated investment companies and real estate investment trusts; and (3) partnerships, S corporations, and common trust funds. Prohibits gain from the sale or other disposition of an indexed asset from being taken into account under the limitation on investment interest. Subtitle C: Enterprise Zones - Part I: Designation - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every two years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Part II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned as do not exceed a specified amount. Phases out such credit. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows a taxpayer a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Excludes enterprise zone capital gains from income computation of alternative minimum taxes. Part III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Part IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Part V: Repeal of Title VII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 - Repeals title VII (enterprise zone development) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987. Subtitle D: Research and Experimentation Credit Made Permanent - Makes permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities and the tax credit for clinical testing expenses. Title II: Savings Incentives - Allows individuals to establish individual retirement plus accounts with tax treatment similar to that for individual retirement plans. Makes contributions to such accounts nondeductible. Allows existing individual retirement accounts (IRA) to be rolled over into individual retirement plus accounts with payment of tax on the amount rolled over for which a deduction was once allowable, but no tax when withdrawn. Title III: Homeownership Incentives - Subtitle A: First-Time Homebuyers - Allows a tax credit for the first-time purchase of a principal residence by individuals with incomes of $31,000 or less (phased-out to incomes of up to $41,000). Limits such credit to $1,000. Subtitle B: Penalty-Free IRA Plus Withdrawal for Home Purchase, Higher Education, and Health Costs - Allows penalty-free distributions from IRA Plus accounts of up to 25 percent of the account limit for: (1) first-time homebuyers; (2) medical expenses; and (3) higher education expenses. Title IV: Work Incentives - Subtitle A: Reduction in Social Security Penalty on Working Elderly - Amends title II of the Social Security Act (Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits) to raise the earnings limit for retirees. Appropriates to each payor fund amounts equivalent to the aggregate increase in social security benefits payable from such fund which is attributable to such amendment. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study during 1997 whether further amendments relating to deductions on account of work and the exempt amount under the earnings limit are necessary or appropriate. Subtitle B: Economic Growth Dividend - Requires any economic growth dividend (as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury) to be used to increase the personal exemption amount. Requires, after 1995, all revenues resulting from real growth in the gross national product greater than three percent to fund an increased personal exemption. Requires, for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 1992, and before October 1, 1995, that 50 percent of such dividend be used to increase the personal exemption amount and the other 50 percent be used to make a downward adjustment in the maximum deficit amount.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Tax Fairness and Accountability Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require any legislation that increases the tax rate, the tax base, or the amount of income subject to tax, or decreases a deduction, exclusion, or credit to be approved in the House of Representatives and the Senate by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of its Members.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1991
Human Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for making determinations of whether a species is an endangered species or a threatened species other than solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available. Prohibits an action from being taken under such Act if: (1) the potential economic benefits to society do not outweigh the potential economic costs to society, as determined under a specified Executive Order concerning Federal regulation; or (2) the action does not otherwise comply with the general requirements of such Order. Prohibits the promulgation of any regulation after enactment of this Act until the issuing agency is certified by the Attorney General to be in compliance with an Executive Order concerning constitutionally protected property rights or similar procedures to assess the potential for the taking of private property in the course of Federal regulatory activity, with the goal of minimizing such where possible. Provides for judicial review for such actions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Amendments of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the transition rules for phasing in the resource-based relative value scale (RB RVS) method of payment for physician services to prohibit adjustments for asymmetry in the transition and for behavioral responses. Declares spending under this Act to be an emergency requirement under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and exempt from sequestration.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
Recognizes and grants a Federal charter to the Military Order of the World Wars, a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) delete the $250 cap on the maximum fine for the unauthorized wearing, manufacturing, or selling of military decorations or medals; and (2) include trades, barters, or exchanges for anything of value as sales.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1991
Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Registration Act - Directs the Attorney General to establish a State program and guidelines requiring persons convicted of a criminal offense against a minor to register a current address with a designated State law enforcement agency (LEA) for ten years after release from prison, parole, or being placed on supervised release. Sets forth requirements for an approved State registration program, including: (1) requirements that a State prison officer inform a released person of the duty to register and provide a designated State LEA with any new address in writing within ten days, obtain a fingerprint card and photograph if not already obtained, require the person to read and sign a form stating that the duty to register has been explained, and forward such information to a designated State LEA (which shall immediately enter the information into the State law enforcement system and National Crime Information Center computer networks and notify the appropriate LEA having jurisdiction where the person expects to live); (2) annual address verification by the designated State LEA; and (3) notification of LEAs having jurisdiction over a released person's new address. Provides that: (1) a person required to register who violates any requirement of a State program established by this Act shall be subject to criminal penalties in such State (recommends at least six months' imprisonment); and (2) the information provided under this Act is private and may be used for law enforcement purposes, including confidential background checks by child care services providers. Specifies that the allocation of Bureau of Justice Assistance grant funds under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 received by a State not complying with the provisions of this Act three years after the enactment of this Act shall be reduced by 25 percent. Requires such unallocated funds to be reallocated to the States in compliance with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
World Cup USA 1994 Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a specified number of five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins in commemoration of the 1994 World Cup and the unique appeal of soccer. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires that all sales include a surcharge of $35 per coin for the five-dollar coins, $7 per coin for the one-dollar coins, and $1 per coin for the half-dollar coins. Requires that all surcharges be paid to the Organizing Committee to organize and stage the 1994 World Cup. Requires that ten percent of such funds shall be made available through the U.S. Soccer Federation Foundation, Inc., for distribution to institutions for scholastic scholarships to qualified students.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree on an estimate of total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year by enactment of a law devoted solely to that subject. Prohibits outlays for that year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding this amount unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of the total membership of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect. Makes this article effective beginning with FY 1995 or with the second fiscal year after its ratification, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1991
National Geologic Mapping Act of 1991 - Establishes in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. Sets forth program objectives. Requires that the program include Federal, support, State, and education geologic mapping components. Sets forth objectives for each component, including the support component contributing to national paleontologic, geochronologic, geophysical-map, and geochemical-map data bases. Establishes an advisory committee. Mandates preparation of an implementation plan for the program covering specified matters. Establishes a national geologic-map data base to be a national archive that includes all maps and data bases developed under this Act. Declares that geologic maps contributed to the national archives should be standardized so that information can be assimilated, exchanged, and compared efficiently and accurately. Authorizes appropriations for each component. Designates the Geological Survey established by specified Federal law as the United States Geological Survey.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Social Security Act to exclude from the social security tax on self-employment income amounts received by a former insurance salesman after retirement if: (1) such amounts are deferred or renewal commissions on policies sold before retirement; and (2) such salesman was not an employee for tax purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1991
Medicare Physician Regulatory Relief Amendments of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) prohibit the denial of physician claims because of patient failure to complete Medicare secondary payer questionnaires; (2) prohibit carriers from using extrapolation to recover the amounts they reimbursed physicians for claims for which Medicare disallows payment, if the physician requests that each such claim be individually identified; (3) prohibit the imposition of specified user fees on physicians; (4) require consideration of physician comments in annual carrier performance reviews; (5) allow individuals (including physicians) to file administrative appeals when they have suffered damages as a result of the failure of a carrier to carry out Medicare policies; and (6) require review of medical necessity denials by physicians in the same medical specialty as the physician providing the service. Amends the Medicare and Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) programs to permit the reimbursement of a patient's regular physician for services provided by another physician who covers for the regular physician under contractual arrangements. Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to repeal the peer review requirement for certain surgical procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1991
James Madison-Bill of Rights Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (the Secretary) to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins emblematic of the Bill of Rights, and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of James Madison. Sets forth guidelines for their sale and issuance, and for financial assurances. Mandates that the surcharges received by the Secretary shall be transmitted to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Trust Fund. Authorizes audits by the Comptroller General. Provides a general waiver of procurement regulations when implementing this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1991
Minerals Policy Review Commission Act of 1991 - Establishes the Minerals Policy Review Commission to report to the President and the Congress the results of its review of mineral production legislation governing the location, disposition, and production of minerals on public lands, including: (1) a review of Federal administrative practices; (2) a compilation of data necessary to ascertain future demands on public lands that are related to location and disposition of minerals; and (3) a consideration of the critical impact of domestic minerals sources on the economic and strategic welfare of the country. Expresses the sense of the Congress that no amendment be made to legislation regarding location and disposition of minerals on public lands until the Commission has reported its findings and recommendations. Mandates that Federal entities cooperate with Commission requests and that those entities having an interest in or responsibility with respect to public lands appoint a liaison officer to work closely with the commission. Provides for termination of the Commission. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1991
Smith-Wyden Rural Health Care Improvement Act of 1991 - Title I: Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for family practice physicians, nurse practitioners, and certified physicians' assistants who serve in rural and medically underserved areas. Allows such individuals a tax deduction for education loan interest. Title II: Other Provisions - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1992 for area health education centers. Deems physicians or other licensed health care practitioners employed in federally-funded migrant health centers, community health centers, and centers to provide health services to the homeless as Public Health Service employees for purposes of liability claims of medical malpractice. Requires such health entities to have implemented appropriate policies and procedures to assure against malpractice.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1991
Older Americans Long-Term Care Insurance Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require that, for the purpose of determining the income tax liability of issuers of qualified long-term insurance, the contracts be treated as accident or health insurance. Applies this provision to policies covering at least 12 consecutive months of necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, or personal care services that are provided in a setting other than an acute care unit of a hospital. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) submit to the Congress before 1993 a study on long-term insurance policies; and (2) report annually to the Congress regarding the certification of qualified long-term care insurance. Treats qualified long-term care insurance as accident or health insurance and its benefits as benefits for personal injuries or sickness for purposes of determining appropriate tax exclusions for employer contributions or employee benefits. Permits qualified long-term care insurance to be offered in cafeteria plans. Excludes from gross income: (1) distributions or payments from individual retirement plans that are used during the year to pay the premiums for qualified long-term care coverage of individuals aged 59 1/2 or older; and (2) amounts received upon surrender, cancellation, or exchange of a life insurance contract and used during the year to pay the premiums for qualified long-term care insurance. Provides that payments under a life insurance contract to an individual who is terminally ill or permanently confined to a nursing home shall be treated as death benefits, making such payments eligible for exclusion from gross income. Requires any reference to a life insurance contract to be treated as including a reference to a qualified accelerated death benefit rider on such contract. Describes such a rider as one which provides for payments to a terminally ill individual or one who is permanently confined to a nursing home.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Forests and Families Protection Act of 1991 - Title I: Establishing Long Term Program - Provides for the establishment of a long-term Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service (FS) program to protect old growth forest, the Northern Spotted Owl, and other old growth associated species on areas of ecologically-significant old growth forest on State and Federal lands in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California selected for the Old Growth Forest Reserve to be established by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior under this Act. Requires the Secretaries to: (1) submit the applicable land management plans for implementing such program for appropriate consultation required under the Endangered Species Act; and (2) review previously applied administrative constraints on resource uses on lands under their jurisdiction to minimize the impact on pre-existing land uses resulting from the establishment of the Reserve. Bars further acquisition of mineral and mining rights in the Reserve. Permits roads, structures, and motorized and nonmotorized recreation and access, and hunting and fishing in the Reserve where consistent with the requirements of this Act and other applicable law. Permits timber harvesting in certain limited circumstances and only if not proscribed for any Reserve area in the applicable forest plan. Title II: Ensuring the Effectiveness of Federal Land Planning - Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 to provide additional guidance on the implementation, amendment, and revision of plans for Federal lands necessary to ensure the effectiveness of Federal land planning and that the applicable forest plans under title I of this Act and the protections which they afford the Old Growth Forest Reserve and associated species are implemented effectively. Title III: Providing An Interim Program - Provides for an interim program until the Reserve is established and applicable forest plans are adopted under title I of this Act with the same purposes as the long-term program, and for the provision of an adequate supply of timber on FS and BLM lands. Directs the Secretaries to establish an Old Growth Research Program (OGRP) to better understand and manage old growth forest ecosystems. Restricts timber sales, road construction, and mineral leasing on certain FS and BLM lands, including those within a certain radius of a Northern Spotted Owl nest site. Requires environmental impact statements on, and appropriate consultation for, the timber harvested from FS and BLM lands to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. Provides for judicial review of agency decisions or actions under this title. Directs the Secretaries to publish in the Federal Register timber harvesting guidelines for Reserve areas based on OGRP work. Title IV: Economic Adjustment - Establishes the Timber Economic Adjustment Commission to provide Federal economic adjustment grants and benefit payments to the communities economically dependent on the timber on FS and BLM lands and the dislocated workers adversely affected by enactment of this Act. Outlines assistance eligibility criteria. Requires the Secretaries to notify the Commission of any Federal action likely to have a substantial impact on employment. Requires a final Commission report to the Congress and applicable State governors on economic conditions and employment in affected areas. Title V: Miscellaneous - Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Smith, Robert [R-OR-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000607_200.jpg)